Never What They Seem
by Accio Lumos
Summary: Lizzy is a student, trying to sort out her life after one person almost destroyed it all. Will is moving away from the family home, hoping to start afresh with his nephew. When the two pursue a relationship, things stand in their way. Will they be able to come together in spite of those things? Rated M for a reason, angst warnings apply. Not for sensitive readers. COPYRIGHTED!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Thank you for deciding to give this a read. It's my second P&P fic but I'm dipping out of the normal classic scenario and decided to try writing a modern day AU using the characters. There's a few OC of my own and the characters ages have been lowered a little bit to help the story run a little more smoothly. To avoid confusion Mr Collins in this fic is called Bill because I've decided to shorten Darcy's name to William(well everyone calls him William instead of Fitzwilliam). I've added my own sort of back stories to the characters because it's Modern Day AU so I hope you'll stick with this story and give it a real chance. The story is also set in my childhood hometown. I get my inspiration from the BBC series, as you may have know if you've read my E&D oneshot.

I kindly request that if you disapprove and don't like Modern Day AU P&P fanfictions, please stop reading after the author's note has finished. If however you happen to give this story a chance, please let me know what you think in a review but please don't be brutal ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing, most characters belong to Austen, I'll just use them for my own creativity and inspiration now and again :)

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5am on a Monday morning. Some citizens of Portsmouth were already showered and getting a quick bite to eat for their breakfast before they headed for Fratton train station for their jobs in investment banking in London. But for one person, she was hitting her alarm clock and groaning at the pounding in her head. _Lizzy, you need to stop going out on Sunday nights even if it's your best friend's birthday,_ she thought to herself as she scrambled out of bed and headed straight for her bathroom.

Elizabeth Bennet, a twenty-one year old student at the University of Portsmouth had started to think that she had taken too much on in life, but on the plus side she had finally gotten her life together; moving away for university had proven that she had made the right choice, even if her family couldn't understand why. She turned on the shower and stripped from her pyjamas, climbing in and gasping at the ice cold jet on the top of her head; perfect thing for a hangover. After her shower she dressed into her work clothes: a pair of black shorts and a navy blue polo shirt that had the word: Fagin's cafe stitched on the left hand side. She tied her wavy brown hair into a ponytail and applied her formal name tag of _Elizabeth, happy to serve_ underneath the work shirt logo. She locked the doors to her balcony before switching off all the lights in her one bedroom flat located in Southsea and left, heading into the city centre to start her day.

Monday mornings for Lizzy would consist of this until she graduated in two months time. She would rise at 5am for the open and start her shift at Fagin's cafe before finishing at twelve to grab some lunch before she started her placement at a children's home as part of her course. In four weeks she would be finishing her placement that was required for her course: Early childhood studies with psychology and would be qualified to enter the job field she wanted as a social worker. She had started her placement four weeks ago and after a tough first week working with the children in care, she enjoyed it, one child in particular who had started out rough in his seven years of life had grown attached to her and she had grown attached to him. This is what she loved about her placement was that she wanted to change somebody's life for the better.

The walk to Fagin's only took twenty minutes, the sun was starting to come out and the commuters could be seen popping in to the local McDonald's for a coffee before heading to the train station at the other end of the high street. She gave a little nod to one to of the men who worked for Colas(the city's maintenance and cleanliness people) who came in for his breakfast around eight everyday and unlocked the door to Fagin's, entering the cafe and locking the door behind her.

"Paige, are you here?" she called, walking through to the little staff room to put her bag in her locker.

She heard the walking and saw her colleague stop before her. Paige Forster had worked at Fagin's for a lot longer than Lizzy had in her three years of service. The blonde haired woman had been at Fagin's when the original owners had run the cafe, Paige was the best chef that the cafe had although the customers always asked for Lizzy's bacon sandwiches in the mornings over Paige's.

"You look rough." Paige laughed.

Lizzy smiled, shutting the door to her locker and placing the padlock over it, "Charlotte and Maria's birthday last night, we went down Guildhall for a couple of drinks." she explained.

"And Albert Road by the look of it."

"We may have ended up along Elm Grove at The Honest Politician! and then the One Eyed Dog. Luckily for me those bars are within walking distance of my flat so I saved money on a taxi. Of course it was an expensive night, even for a Sunday. Going out for a twins birthday is a double night so when you buy your best friend a drink, you have to buy the twin sister one too." Lizzy yawned.

Paige smiled, "Students," she muttered, "Just so you know, Charlie boy's coming in today."

"Charles Bingley visiting his little cafe in Portsmouth?" Lizzy asked with a mocking tone to her voice.

"I know, he mainly leaves the running of the place to you, me or Mary."

Lizzy nodded, between her, Paige Forster and Mary King, Fagin's was usually kept running on a day to day basis with the odd few part timers coming in for the odd shift here or there. Charles Bingley had bought the cafe from the previous owners four years ago and had taken a shine to Lizzy and they quickly became fast friends. Charles owned various businesses up and down the country and lived in a manor estate with his family not far from where she grew up in Hertfordshire.

"I wonder what brings him to Portsmouth?" Lizzy mused, exiting the staff room with Paige and tying an apron around her waist.

"He didn't say, he just called last night not long after I'd put Harry to bed and said he'd be popping in around ten to see us."

"What time are you here til?" Lizzy asked, popping her staff code into the till.

"One thirty, Mary starts at one. I was supposed to be here until two but Patrick goes back to the army barracks today and I had nobody to watch Harry." Paige explained.

"Do you need someone to watch him next week? I only do my placement on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I have my usual Monday morning shift, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. I also have Saturday and Sunday open next week so if you need someone to watch him on Tuesday, I don't have any plans." Lizzy offered.

"Thanks Lizzy, I'll let you know." Paige said, heading back into the kitchen.

Lizzy turned on the coffee machine and the fridge that contained their cold drink selections. Paige brought out the freshly made muffins and cookies that were quite popular with their regular customers before starting on making some sandwiches to be brought out before the lunch time rush. Her shift had started at six o'clock and in the hour that she had clocked in and before the cafe opened for business, she and Paige had practically gotten everything in place ahead of the lunch time rush that started at eleven o'clock.

The cafe opened each morning at seven, the regulars came and went as they usually did. Paige was busy cooking the sausages and bacon for fry ups whilst Lizzy kept herself busy serving on the till and cleaning the tables. At ten o'clock on the dot, Lizzy had just finished clearing the tables when she saw the man she hadn't seen in months. Light red hair, blue eyes and a huge smile stood Charles Bingley. He seemed taller than she remembered, she returned his smile and embraced her friend, not caring that others might deem it unprofessional to hug her boss.

"Lizzy, how are you?" Charles asked.

"Very well, yourself?"

"Happy as ever, is Paige around?"

"In the kitchen," Lizzy replied, "She's just cooked another fresh batch of bacon."

Charles went through to the kitchen to say hello to Paige as Lizzy went back behind the counter and placed the plates and cups into the dishwasher. The door to the cafe opened again and by the time she had turned her attention back to the customer, she saw a handsome little boy staring up at her; sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, an innocent looking face and a button like nose.

"What can I get for you, young Sir?" Lizzy asked.

"A cookie, Uncle Will can I have a cookie?" the boy asked, turning to the man stood behind him.

Lizzy's gaze went to the man, the nephew had none of his traits. He was tall, curly brown hair and brown eyes but he looked almost sombre and pompous. He wore a black suit and tie, it was a bit late in the morning to get a businessman in the cafe. Most of them came around opening time.

"You may Leonard." the man replied stiffly.

"My name's Leo," the boy said directly to Lizzy as he pulled a cookie out of the display cabinet and placed it on a plate for the boy, "What's yours?"

"Elizabeth." she replied with a smile.

"That's a big name."

Lizzy chuckled, "You can call me Lizzy," she said, "Anything for you Sir?"

"Coffee." the man replied.

Charles and Paige came out of the kitchen as Lizzy started to pour the man's coffee, noticing that her colleague was deep in conversation about scheduling conflicts with the part timers who didn't want to increase their hours.

"And Lizzy graduates in July and she's on this placement, I can't ask her to do more than what she already is." Paige pointed out.

"Is this right Lizzy? You graduate in July?" Charles asked.

She gave the man his coffee and took the money to the till, "I do," she confirmed, "My placement ends in four weeks, it's a requirement for me graduating."

"I understand that but are you leaving once you graduate? Moving on to bigger and better things so to speak?"

Lizzy smiled as she handed the man his change, "Charles, I have no idea what my plans are. At the moment I'm focussing on my work here and my requirements for university. When I graduate I have no clue as to what my plans will be. At the moment I'm thinking of going home for three weeks in the summer to visit my family but one thing for certain is that I'm staying in Portsmouth for the foreseeable future."

"Well speak to me when you know what your plans are, I will be staying in Portsmouth for a while."

Lizzy raised an eyebrow, "You're staying? That's quite unlike you." she said, surprised.

"I know," he chuckled, "Allow me to introduce my friend, William Darcy and his nephew Leonard Fitzwilliam. Darcy this is Mrs Paige Forster and Miss Elizabeth Bennet, friends of mine and two of my best employees."

"Mrs Forster. Miss Bennet." Darcy replied with a nod to each of them.

Charles took to a table with Darcy and his son, the three of them chatting. Lizzy overheard some snippets of the conversation, something about Darcy's new house by Canoe Lake and looking at schools for Leonard. By eleven o'clock, Lizzy was unloading the dishwasher when a familiar face from the night before came into the cafe, looking severely hungover and in dire need of a bacon sandwich.

"How is it that we go on a pissup and you look as pretty as you did before." Charlotte groaned behind her sunglasses.

Lizzy smiled, "Feeling rather delicate are we? How's Maria?" she asked, pouring Charlotte a coffee.

Charlotte took to an empty table as Lizzy brought her coffee over, "Let's just say I'm worse than any of you two. I regret having that sambuca." she muttered.

Lizzy took her best friend's money and placed it in the till before shouting to Paige to make Charlotte a bacon sandwich. She went over to her best friend's table and sat opposite her for a few minutes.

"I find that a cold shower helps with the hangover hence why I'm not as grumpy as you. However, you seemed quite content going home with Bill last night."

"He's on the train back to Kent, can't be kept away from his duties to the De Bourgh family."

"I suppose that's what you get with trainee vicars." she laughed.

Paige brought out the bacon sandwich for Charlotte and headed back into the kitchen. Charlotte took a sip of her coffee, "Are you up for round two tonight, some of us are going to Tiger Tiger if you're up for it."

Lizzy shook her head, "I think I'll sit this one out, I've still got to finish my dissertation."

"Now you're getting sensible." Charlotte complained.

"I like a night out just as much as anyone but not every night, my bank balance suffers enough." Lizzy replied.

Their conversation was put to a stop when Lizzy overheard Darcy, who was sat behind her, say in a not too quiet voice, "Bingley, do you always allow your staff to be lazy and speak about their personal lives on shift?"

Lizzy turned around, "I'll have you know, Mr Darcy, that in my three years of service at Fagin's I've never been late, I've never phoned in sick and I rarely take a break."

Darcy turned around to face her, their eyes meeting and him staring intensely at her. What was it about this man that she found he could be quite intimidating? It didn't bother her that he was trying to, her barriers were raised well high for that but she wouldn't stand for rudeness.

"In some establishments, Miss Bennet, you would be fired on the spot for speaking to a customer in that manner." he shot at her coldly.

Lizzy smiled, finding amusement in his scolding at her, "In some establishments, Mr Darcy, the staff wouldn't have the nerve to tell rude customers that manners don't cost a penny. I may have to start charging you for lessons." she teased.

Charlotte almost choked on her bacon sandwich as she tried to stifle a laugh, Charles burst out laughing to which Lizzy was rather grateful that he didn't take offence at her teasing his friend.

"I have missed your teasing Lizzy, I should come and see you all more often." Charles chuckled.

"I should get back to work. Have fun tonight Charlotte." Lizzy said quietly.

She bade her friend goodbye as she went to clean the coffee machine, loading the dishwasher once more and serving the last few customers before Paige took over at midday. At twelve, she hung up her apron and grabbed her bag, deciding to change at the children's home out of her work uniform. She stopped by Greggs and picked herself up a cream filled belgian bun before stopping at the bus stop that stopped by the children's home. She ate on the bus, thinking about the intense man she had met, William Darcy. Lizzy didn't understand what could make a man so rude and...and proud? By appearance alone he seemed to have a thing with pride about him, perhaps that was just his character? From what she had overheard from his conversation with Charles was that they were staying in the house he had recently bought by Canoe Lake, a good spot for little Leonard where there was the play park, the lake and the swan shaped peddle boats, the Canoe Lake cafe and the model village. By the sound of it, he was going to live right near the seafront and all children loved the beach; the only disappointment about the beach that it wasn't a sandy one, it was a rock one. She wondered why a man like Mr Darcy would want to live in Portsmouth? He seemed more like the type to prefer living in London.

Lizzy got off at her stop, having finished her belgian bun and began to walk into the children's home; a converted victorian house that currently had eight children staying in. It provided a large kitchen and dining room, a spacious garden for the children to play in which included swings and slides, a sitting room with games consoles and space for the staff to go. It also included two offices where the care workers would convene for meetings or to file paperwork. Lizzy hung up her bag and changed in the staff toilet into a pair of jeans and a shirt that she packed before her night out with Charlotte the day before. When she had finished changing, she was greeted by Elaine, the head care worker at the home.

"Good afternoon Elizabeth, how are you?" Elaine asked.

"Very well and yourself?"

"I'm okay, I'm due to have a meeting in five minutes with some potential foster parents for Keira. Can you just check on Jacob? He's in the sitting room, he's been sent home from school for biting another child. If you need help, Isaac is in the dining room finishing up lunch with Toby and Lisa, the other children are still at school." Elaine instructed.

Lizzy went into the sitting room, seeing that Jacob was sat in the corner with his arms around his legs and his head resting on his wrists. It pulled at her heart strings to see Jacob like this. Elaine had filled her in on his background after an incident during her first week there, Jacob had been in foster care since he was eighteen months after his mother had lost him due to being a drug addict. He hadn't had the easiest life, no-one wanted to foster a child who had been diagnosed with a mild form of autism because his behaviour was unpredictable from time to time but Lizzy had seen his struggle. She knew from her past three years that children diagnosed with autism or any other similar disorder saw the world differently and liked things to be done a certain way.

She sat next to him, tapping him lightly on the head. Jacob looked up and sniffed before placing his head back on his wrists.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lizzy asked quietly.

"You hate me, don't you?" he asked with a muffled voice.

"No! Jake, why would you think that?"

The six year old looked up and sniffed again, "I bit him, Elaine says I'm naughty." he cried.

"Jacob, tell me what happened." she said softly, patiently.

He unfolded his arms as she placed a sympathetic arm around his shoulders.

"It's Kieran's fault! he started it! He said I was stinky, he said nobody loved me because I was in care!" Jacob insisted.

"Well Kieran is a very naughty boy isn't he?"

"He said I didn't have a mummy and he's right!" the boy grumbled.

She hated seeing Jacob in this state. A seven year old shouldn't know about the situation on why he was placed into care, not yet anyway. He shouldn't know that his mother was unable to cope with the responsibility of looking after a child, he shouldn't be made to feel by other boys that he wasn't wanted. Jacob was quite a sensitive little boy and having understood after her first week that he had a lot of issues, she was rather patient with him.

"Jacob, you must not listen to Kieran. He's a very nasty little boy who says nasty things. Shall I tell you something that my mother told me when I was your age?"

The seven year old nodded, looking up at her with a small smile.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. When Kieran decides to say something nasty to you, next time instead of biting him, tell that to yourself and walk away. Can you do that for me?" Lizzy asked.

The boy smiled and nodded his head in agreement before heading up to his room to make a start on his homework whilst Lizzy went to help tidy up the lunch that Toby and Lisa had been eating. Toby and Lisa, although only both three and two years of age, made a lot of mess as a lot of toddler did. She helped Isaac to clear the floor before having some play time with Toby by playing with the train set whilst Isaac put Lisa down for her afternoon nap.

Her placement at the children's home required her to work there for eight weeks for six hours across three days and because she was working Monday afternoons she had to help with the lunch clear up, making sure that Toby was entertained and that Lisa had her nap before Isaac went to collect Keira, Hayley, Joseph, Peter and Isabel up from their schools in the minibus and once the children were back at the home, she helped them with their homework in the dining room before helping Elaine with the dinner which was served around five in the evening.

Once the children had eaten dinner and Isaac had his break, she helped to put the younger children to bed and made sure that Jacob had done his reading for school before saying goodbye to the rest of the children and leaving the children's home in North End, beginning to make her way back to her flat in Southsea. Portsmouth was the only island city in the country and although it might be a small island, it would take her forty-five minutes to walk from the top of one district to the other. She had found Portsmouth to be the perfect escape from everything that had happened back home, she had met wonderful people and worked with some of the bestest friends that she had ever made and she was finally moving on from the shambles that had happened in Hertfordshire.

As she made her way across the road, her phone started ringing. Pulling it out of her pocket, she smiled to see the familiar picture of her elder sister popped up on the screen.

"Hello Jane." Lizzy greeted happily.

"Oh Lizzy, it's so good to finally speak." Jane replied.

"How are you?"

"I'm doing okay. I'm being kept busy, trying to teach a class of thirty seven year olds can be exhausting but they're sweet little things." Jane replied.

Lizzy carried on walking, passing St Mary's church as she reached the district of Fratton. A little bit further, another twenty minutes and she'd be in the comforts of her own home.

"That's good to hear, you're enjoying the school then?" she asked.

"Definitely, how are you? how's uni? how's work?"

"I'm very well overall, my hangover and late night is starting to catch up with me now though. University is going well, my placement ends in four weeks and I don't want to leave. As for Fagin's that's still good, Charles is actually in town for a little bit."

"Your boss?"

"Of course Jane, how many people named Charles do I know?" she questioned.

"You seem a bit _friendly_ with him that's all." Jane answered.

"Because he's a friend Jane, I'm not romantically interested in my boss nor anybody else for that matter."

"Lizzy, while we're on the subject of romances, there's something you should know." Jane said quietly.

She paused as she reached Fratton bridge, hearing the sound of a train pass by underneath. There was an eery silence and Lizzy knew it only meant one thing, Jane had some bad news for her.

"Jane? What's wrong?"

"Lizzy, I don't know if Mum told you but an army regiment has come back to Meryton, setting up base for training. I swear I didn't know that he was back...he had gone not long after you left for university and he swore he would never come back to Meryton."

Her heart started beating faster in her chest, the one person who had almost destroyed her life, Jane had to be meaning someone else.

"Lizzy, George Wickham is part of this regiment. He's back in Meryton."


	2. Chapter 2

Mr Darcy woke up on Thursday morning to the sound of seagulls flying over the beach at the Eastney end of the seafront, the occasional car would drive past the house as he stretched out his arms and saw that the time was nearly nine in the morning. He didn't usually make it a habit of sleeping in for he usually liked to rise at six o'clock to eat breakfast before seeing his business affairs, not that he had much business affairs these days.

He rolled out of bed, pulling on a dressing gown and went downstairs where he found Bingley giving Leonard his cereal. He greeted them both with a small smile as he helped himself to an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen side before taking his seat next to Charles at the wooden table.

"What are you plans for today Darcy?" Bingley asked.

"I haven't decided yet. I need to look at some more schools for Leonard and then I was thinking about taking him to look at some of the things that this city has to offer." he replied.

"Well there's the fair on Clarence Pier and the arcades, the park on the common or there's Canoe Lake across the road, the natural history museum, the city museum but don't go overboard."

"I shan't. First I have to check in with my father." said William, finally taking a bite from his apple.

William respected his father and they shared quite a strong bond but when his Aunt and Uncle Fitzwilliam had died when he was eleven, Frank and Lucy Fitzwilliam, his cousins, had been adopted by his father and mother. His sister Georgiana had been born shortly after and they had grown up as a family in their estate of Pemberley.

His mother had died after a long battle with cancer when Georgiana was three and by the year before he was due to start university, Lucy had gotten her first boyfriend; a boy that didn't meet the approval of Reginald Darcy and William didn't approve of him either. It was when he had started at Cambridge university that he was told that Lucy had fallen pregnant at the age of sixteen. The man had run off the second she had told him of the child she was carrying and William had promised her that he would be there to help. He had completed his first year at university by the time that Lucy had given birth to a healthy baby boy who she had called Leonard Reginald Fitzwilliam.

It was shortly before the end his final year at Cambridge when he got the phone call from his father. His adoptive sister had been killed in an car accident by none other than the child's father. He was devastated. Reginald didn't know what to do with Leonard and Frank had been enlisted in the army for three years at that point, Georgie was still quite young herself and needed Reginald's attention. Once he had graduated from university, he returned to Pemberley to look after Leonard as if he were his own son. Leonard turned two shortly after Lucy's death in August, three weeks after and his twenty-first birthday came days after Leonard's.

The conversation with his father was a short one. Georgie's fifteenth birthday was coming up and she wanted to come to Portsmouth for a visit, the business and the estate were thriving as usual and William told his father that he and Leonard were still unpacking at the new house. After the phone call with his father, he told Leonard to get dressed as he sat back down to drink the coffee that Charles had made for them both.

"I'll be at the cafe this evening, why don't you pop in and have something to eat?" Charles offered.

"I think Leo would like that."

"I'm helping them out, they're a bit understaffed at the moment. Lizzy starts at two o'clock once her lecture has finished."

"Ahh the famous Miss Bennet." William smirked.

Charles frowned, "Whatever do you mean Darcy?"

"You mention her a lot," he pointed out, "Is there a little spark between the two of you?"

Charles looked a little outraged, "How can you even suggest that? I don't bed my employees Will." he grumbled.

"I never said you did. Although I will say that you seem a little _too_ friendly with Miss Bennet."

"She's just a friend, a good one. Lizzy's a laugh, she knows how to handle a situation and instead of getting upset she uses humour." Charles replied admirably.

Will nodded stiffly, remembering the first time that he had met her on Monday. She had teased him and she wasn't afraid to stand up for herself and he supposed that she was quite pretty. Those eyes of hers in particular. A dark hazel mixture of browns and greens that had him hooked to her gaze when she had called him out on his rudeness. He had meant to apologise to her for his bad mood which was down to the fact that his father hadn't wanted him to move to Portsmouth with Leonard but he hadn't been back to the cafe yet.

Charles left the house around lunch time and at that point, William had showered and dressed and taken Leonard for lunch at a little restaurant called Mozzarella Joe's on the beach right by the arcades; the other end of the seafront that it took them a while to walk from their house. May so far had provided warm weather so William and Leonard had been able to eat outside the restaurant and look at the views of the solent. You could distantly make out the Isle of Wight and Gosport and the several boats that crossed the stretch of water. After lunch, William treated Leonard to an hour or two in the arcades before deciding to check out the local school of St John's College which acted as a public and private school.

Leonard hadn't really taken an interest in the school, he happily played with the toys he had won at the arcades while William asked all the questions as to the school's curriculum, teachers, after school activities. The headteacher was quite accommodating to his questions but once they left, William decided to look into other local schools.

ooOoo

Lizzy clocked in for her shift at five to two, having changed and made a start to clear some tables now that the lunchtime rush was almost over. Six hours until closing time. Mary had left shortly after and the other three part timers who came in for shifts now and again were all unavailable to help her with the close. Luckily, Charles had offered to give her a hand until he could speak to his three part timers who seemed to be rather unreliable lately.

She felt grateful to her boss for the offer, especially after the way she had spoken to his friend on Monday. It hadn't bothered her, it was just the way she was but Mr Darcy seemed a little offended at her remark. Still, she didn't dwell on the thought of Mr Darcy. Charles turned up around two thirty and kept to till mostly as Lizzy cooked in the kitchen, the all day breakfasts were a popular hit in the mid afternoon, mostly because it was the only place in Commercial Road that had the option of an all day breakfast at whatever time the customer fancied it.

"Charles, the sink's playing up!" Lizzy called, having been told by Mary that they needed to call a plumber in to fix the leaky pipe at the bottom.

"Leave it for now Lizzy, try and tighten the pipe when you get a minute." was the reply she received.

The next thing she knew, she was glancing at the clock to see that she only had two hours left until closing time. Charles came into the kitchen to ask her to cover the till for a little bit whilst he went out to take a phone call to his sister Caroline. As she washed her hands and went on to the front counter, her eyes met those of the man she had met a few days prior. Mr Darcy and the handsome little boy Leo.

"Hi Lizzy!" Leo said brightly.

"Hello Leo, how are you?" she asked.

"Tired. Uncle Will took me to the arcades and we had lunch at this place on the beach, but I can't 'member the name of it."

Her eyes met Mr Darcy's and for a moment they stared at each other before Leonard asked if he could have a sandwich and some juice to which the boy's uncle replied that he'd get everything sorted and paid Lizzy the money for Leo's food. Charles popped back to say a quick hello to Darcy and Leo before telling Lizzy that he had to pop out for a while and he'd be back at eight to help with the close.

"Charles, I'll be okay." Lizzy assured him.

"I feel awful. I promised to give you a hand and Paige mentioned that two weeks ago those men came in when you and Mary were closing and they nearly got a bit rough with you-"

"I'll keep her company Charles if that's what you're worried about."

Lizzy looked at him, a little shocked that he had offered to stay because Charles was worried about her being here on her own.

"Really, Mr Darcy there's no need-"

"I insist. Leo will be fine playing with his trinkets from the arcade. Charles, off you go. I'll stay here and keep an eye on things with Miss Bennet."

Charles thanked his friend and headed out of Fagin's, leaving Lizzy feeling awkward in the cafe alone with the last few customers and Mr Darcy. She didn't know what had prompted him to offer his assistance but the way he stared at her with those cold, brown eyes of his made her feel that she was being watched in case she stepped out of line again.

The last few customers left at quarter to eight and Lizzy started to clear the tables and loaded the last remaining plates, cutlery and cups into the dishwasher to be cleaned and ready to put away for Paige in the morning. She was lucky that the only real cleaning that she had to do were the toilets, the floor, the seating area and the oven. At eight o'clock she locked the door and flipped the sign around from 'open' to 'closed', hoping that Charles would be back shortly. Leo sat quietly playing with his toys as Mr Darcy stood at the counter, watching as she cleaned the oven in the kitchen.

"Is there something you need, Mr Darcy?" she called.

"Not at all, would you like some help?"

Lizzy frowned, why was he offering to help? He looked far too high class to know how to clean, she figured that he had a housekeeper to see to all of that side of things in the house.

"Umm...no thankyou."

"How long have you worked for my friend, Miss Bennet?" he asked as she came back behind the counter.

"Three years, it's the best job I've ever had." she replied politely.

"Waitressing?"

Lizzy looked up at him and looked a little offended. He was judging her because she enjoyed 'waitressing'? Perhaps he wasn't the type to have started off in a job where you had to start at the bottom. There were those customers, mostly immature teenaged boys, who came into the cafe to cause trouble and when Lizzy had thrown them out they had told her to get a 'real job'. But as far as she saw it, Fagin's cafe was a wonderful little place to work; she had met and made friends here and to top it off she actually enjoyed it.

"It doesn't matter to me that I'm just a _waitress,_ Mr Darcy." she shot back cooly.

His eyes widened at the offence that she had taken but she didn't let him try to apologise, she didn't want his apology.

"It pays my rent and bills, it allows me to enjoy a social life with my friends. I don't need a stranger judging me just because of the type of job that I currently have." Lizzy said.

ooOoo

He remained silent as he watched her move from the counter to clean the tables and chairs, standing where he was as Leo was still content with playing with his toys. She had been offended by his surprising question that she enjoyed her job to which that he hadn't meant to offend her but she was right about something; they were strangers to each other. The only thing that they had in common was their own friendships with Charles Bingley.

She seemed quite defensive with walls high up to keep herself guarded and her humour must be a defense mechanism. He was sure of it at the moment, within time he might get to know her better.

ooOoo

Lizzy felt her phone vibrate in her pocket as she finished cleaning the last table, placing the chairs on top of the table. She shared a look with Mr Darcy before pulling her phone out of her pocket, rolling her eyes to see that it was Lydia calling her. She answered the call, turning away from Mr Darcy and Leo.

"Hello Lydi." she said.

"Lizzy, tell Daddy that he has to let me go on this school trip to France. He says I can't go because of the incident at school last week-"

Her youngest sister was cut off and Lizzy heard arguments in the background between her father, her mother and Lydia with Mrs Bennet backing Lydia up as she always did; Lydia had always been their mother's favourite.

"Lizzy tell Dad it's not fair!" Lydia wailed.

She held the phone away from her ear and she saw that Mr Darcy's face remained expressionless as he watched her. Lizzy had no idea why Lydia would even call her to get her involved in the matter and she knew that her younger sister would have no trouble in wrapping their father around her little finger in order to get him to change his mind. Thomas Bennet always caved in when it came to a request by his daughters.

"Lydi, I'm at work. Tell Dad I'll call you when I get home, it'll be about an hour." Lizzy replied.

"But Lizzy-"

"Goodbye Lydia." she said firmly, ending the call and placing her phone back in her pocket.

She placed the phone back in her pocket and put away the cleaning equipment that she had been using. Underneath the counter she saw the toolbox but decided to let Charles know that she hadn't had the opportunity to fix the leaky tap. Elizabeth was still a little annoyed at the very brief phone call with her sister and she was mortified to think that Darcy had heard some of the conversation.

"A sibling?" Darcy asked her after moments of silence.

Elizabeth looked up at him and nodded, "My youngest, I take it you heard some of the conversation?" she questioned.

"I heard the shrieking, yes." he confirmed.

That look again, that _disapproving_ look that he had given to her when Charlotte had came into the cafe on Monday.

ooOoo

William looked at her, feeling a little pity that she had been called by a member of her family to be involved in an argument. From what he had heard, there was something about a trip and their father not letting the sister go. Elizabeth had poured some soapy water into a mop bucket and started to mop the floor.

"Tell me, Miss Bennet, how old is your youngest sibling?"

He watched as Elizabeth packed away the rest of the cleaning equipment before switching the lights off in the kitchen. She frowned at him, possibly wondering why he was taking an interest, he was surprised himself.

"She's nearly fifteen."

He found himself nodding, the same age as Georgiana.

"Do you have many siblings?"

"Four sisters, Mr Darcy." she replied.

Four sisters, he didn't know why that was so interesting. After she had drained the dirty water and told Leonard to be careful when walking on the wet floor, she disappeared into the staff room as Charles came bursting through the door after unlocking it with his own key.

"Bingley." he greeted.

"Is Lizzy still here?" Charles asked.

"She's getting her belongings." William replied.

Charles looked guilty for having been so long but he told him how Elizabeth seemed to be able to manage by herself. A few moments later, she had appeared from the staff room and accepting Charles's apologies and insisting that she was fine.

"Well at the very least you could allow us to escort you home safely." Charles offered.

"It's fine, really there's no need-"

"You have to go through Guildhall on a Thursday night? Not alone when there are so many drunkards about."

Elizabeth seemed adamant that she was fine in walking home by herself but Charles insisted that they all walk home together. William looked over to Leonard, whose eyes were drooping from the hecticness of the day out that they had shared. He gave Leonard a piggy back so that the boy could rest and fall asleep as he carried him, he was surprised to learn that Elizabeth seemed to soften at his gesture toward his nephew, as if she hadn't expected him to be like that with a child.

After ten minutes of arguing between Charles and Elizabeth, she caved and allowed the two of them to escort her home safely. They walked through the quiet high street of the city centre and underneath the bridge that led to Portsmouth and Southsea train station and into Guildhall square where the local library and council offices were located before the many bars and nightclubs by the central university building and halls of residence where the first year students resided.

Darcy thought the nightlife of Portsmouth wasn't entirely how he would decide to spend a night out, he'd prefer a night out down the pub over a night out in the clubs where he had already seen three girls vomiting into the gutter and a bloke being punched in the face over a row with another man about some mutual ex-girlfriend. Luckily, Leonard slept soundly in his piggy back ride, his blonde head resting on his right shoulder and arms tightly secured around Darcy's neck.

They walked along Winston Churchill Avenue, passed by the Spar shop where students were seen buying more alcohol and some even had the munchies but Leo still slept, even as they walked into a part of Portsmouth that Darcy never wanted to step foot in again: Somerstown, filled with sixteen floor tower blocks that looked run down on the outside and teenage boys hanging outside the local newsagents asking passersby to stop in the shop to buy them cigarettes.

He soon found that Miss Bennet lived in a block of flats at the end of terraced housing along Montgomerie Road, probably only a few years old from the outside architecture. It seemed impressive that she lived in a place like this instead of the typical shared housing that some students preferred to live in. She bade goodnight to Charles with a quick hug and gave him a small smile before unlocking the security door which gave her access to the block. He and Charles carried on their long walk down Victoria Road North and he came to the conclusion that Miss Elizabeth Bennet had more to her than what met the eye and he curiously wanted to know her better.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you all for following this story so far, I'd be really grateful to hear your thoughts so far into the story. I will try to aim to update every week but at the moment I have exam prep to do. Keep an eye out for the update, thanks for reading :)


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Thank you to those of you who reviewed so far, it means a lot to me to hear your thoughts so please continue to review. For those of you are still confused with regards to the Darcy family situation in my story: Lucy and Frank Fitzwilliam, Darcy's cousins, were adopted by Darcy's father when their parents died. Georgiana was three when her and Darcy's mother died of cancer. Lucy fell pregnant at sixteen and died at the age of eighteen when Leo was nearly two in a car crash caused by Leo's father. Reginald Darcy(Will and Georgie's father) decided to let William take over with the guardianship of Leo because Frank is in the army and because Georgiana was only nine as there are ten years between her and Darcy and still needed a lot of her father's time and attention. Darcy feels an attachment to Leo who is his adoptive nephew and he was quite close with his cousin aka adoptive sister Lucy. I hope this clears up some confusion, more will be explained as the story goes on.

* * *

Darcy watched as Leo sat at the dining table, continuing his maths work with a private tutor that his uncle had hired until September when he would be allocated a place at school. Most of the house had been unpacked and luckily for him, Mrs Reynolds(their family housekeeper at Pemberley) had agreed to come and work for him after having found a replacement for her at Pemberley.

"Margaret, thank you again for leaving Pemberley. I'm sure my father wasn't happy with your decision." William said quietly.

"It's no trouble Fitzwilliam, the boy needs some familiarity and your father will understand when he gets his head around the idea." Margaret replied.

"We both needed a change of scenery, how long for I do not know. Nothing has been the same since Lucy died."

"Aye, it hasn't," the woman agreed, "But Fitzwilliam, you aren't the only one who still feels her loss. Your father feels like he has lost three children, he sees Lucy and Frank as his own since the adoption and of course, Frank is off in the army and hardly ever returns home when he's in the country. Lucy is gone now and you've moved here with Leonard. Only Georgiana remains, he feels that he has nobody left to inherit the estate when he dies-"

"I will inherit the estate but Pemberley is filled with memories of Lucy, even the times when she brought _him_ for dinner. She's been dead for the last four years, I felt suffocated." William explained.

"I understand, you needed an escape and I know how you feel about Leonard. You treat that boy as if he were your own." Margaret said with admiration.

William looked back over to the boy, so interested in numbers which made him laugh, "I always promised Lucy that if anything happened to her than I would raise Leo. His own father never bothered with him and Leo is better off never knowing him. My own father still has to look after Georgiana and the managing of the estate to do."

"Uncle Will, I'm finished!" Leo declared from the dining table.

He smiled, "Well done Leo, shall we go to the beach for a walk?" he asked.

The boy nodded and went up to his bedroom to put his shoes on as Will bade goodbye to the tutor and Mrs Reynolds, waiting at the front door for Leonard to come downstairs, hoping that he had made the right choice in getting away from Pemberley for a while. Leo could hardly remember his mum but on the days that he did remember the little snippets that remained to him of Lucy, he got upset. Portsmouth was supposed to be their way of living happily for a time and he hoped that his decision had been the right one.

ooOoo

"Lizzy, you are a diamond for babysitting for me!" Paige said thankfully.

Tuesday, exactly a week and one day since Charles had returned to Portsmouth. Their boss had sacked all three of the part timers and were currently looking for their replacements. As such, Charles had begun to help out in the cafe with the opens and closes but they couldn't manage with three staff and the boss forever, especially as Paige had a child to look after and Lizzy was at university, working and doing a placement for her course.

"It's no trouble at all Paige, I'll take him to the beach or something seeing as the weather is actually nice. Would you like that Harry?"

The four year old looked up and nodded with a wide grin, causing his mother to chuckle lightly.

"Text me where you are when I leave work, if you're out then I'll come and meet you or I'll come to yours to pick him up."

"Bye Paige." said Lizzy.

Harry piped up a little goodbye to his mother and they left the cafe and began to walk to the seafront. Harry soon complained that his legs were hurting so Lizzy opted to get the bus from town to Southsea instead of doing the thirty minute walk with a four year old. Harry liked the bus journey, pointing out the different shops that his mother liked or different coloured cars that took to his notice.

They got off their bus at South Parade Pier which was still in dire need of repair thanks to the January storms. Lizzy had read about it in the local newspaper, how the pier was falling apart and how it had been boarded up to prevent people from walking underneath and climbing on the end of the pier where it was a popular fishing spot. It had once been a popular attraction in the city, with a huge indoor arcade, fishing spots and shops on the inside but now it was all but a ruin.

They carried their walk along the seafront, Harry having decided that he wanted to go on the boats at Canoe Lake. After Lizzy had agreed that they could, they carried on their walk until she bumped into the last person that she had expected to see.

"Hello Miss Bennet." Darcy greeted.

"Mr Darcy." she replied, with a nod that she mocked.

Only he didn't look like the Mr Darcy that she had seen on the last few occasions, he was dressed casually; in light blue jeans and a black t-shirt, his hair still as curly was the only thing that remained the same. They stood awkwardly for a few moments but then he did the last thing she had expected, he smiled in amusement at her nod. What had he done with the man who had been unpleasant over the past week that she had known him? Since her close on Thursday, he had been in and out of the cafe with Charles and seemed more talkative.

"Your son I assume?" Darcy asked.

"Not mine no. He is the son of my friend Paige Forster. Harry, this is Mr Darcy and his nephew Leo." Lizzy introduced.

The boys talked quite a lot, making a new friendship rather quickly as Lizzy stood there awkwardly with Mr Darcy.

"Where are you headed?" he asked.

"To the park and Canoe Lake, Harry likes to ride on the swan boats there. Would you like to join us? It seems that the boys would rather like to play together." Lizzy offered politely.

"Thank you, I think that my nephew would like that very much."

They carried on walking towards the park and crossed the busy road, watching as Leo and Harry ran on ahead past the lake and into the park that, surprisingly, wasn't so busy for an afternoon in the middle of May. Lizzy and Darcy sat on one of the benches in the park as the two boys ran around and climbed on the climbing equipment.

"Do you often look after little children, Miss Bennet?" he asked.

"I look after Harry every now and then to help Paige out, her husband is in the army."

"She seems rather young to be married and have a child." William commented.

"Paige is twenty-five and Harry is only four. She met her husband Patrick when he was in basic training for the army and after a year of dating, they were expecting. They're quite a happy couple, although she misses him dearly when duty calls him away from her and their son." Lizzy explained.

"I'm nearly twenty-five but I do think myself it is a little young especially if your friend has been married a time."

Lizzy raised an eyebrow, "And you typically live the life of a bachelor? A girl in your bed every morning in a big house?" she teased.

William smiled again, surprising her further.

"No Miss Bennet, I just haven't found someone to share my life with. It is quite the burden from time to time and most women do not want to be involved with a man raising his nephew as his own son." he explained.

ooOoo

He watched as her expression softened at his statement that he was raising Leonard as his own child. In his experience, not many women who he was lucky to know would like the fact that he was young and looked after a child of nearly seven years of age. Caroline Bingley was one of those women, his best friend's little sister who fancied him something rotten. Darcy always cringed whenever he and Caroline happened to be alone in each other's company, she always made snide comments about being thrown into the responsibility of caring for Leo although she didn't know the full circumstances behind him doing so, she always said that she cared a lot for the company of Georgiana but whenever the Bingleys were invited to Pemberley, she refused to spend five minutes with his little sister.

"Raising him as if he were your own?" she asked, with a little admiration.

Darcy nodded, "Yes." he confirmed.

"That...That's very...noble of you." Lizzy complimented.

"I would hardly call in noble, it was the right thing I do. I made a promise to my sister that I would raise Leonard should anything happen to her and none of my other family were in a position to give Leonard the time and attention he needed."

"I assume something happened to Leonard's mother that would cause her not to be able to care for him?" she asked.

William looked at her, his smile fading.

"She died four years ago, Leonard was two."

William watched as she ran a finger through her ponytail, biting her lip as if she were regretting asking him about Leonard's situation in life. He smiled assuringly at her that he hadn't minded her asking her question and that he hadn't taken offence to it.

"I'm so sorry." Lizzy mumbled.

"It's okay Miss Bennet." William assured her.

"Forgive me for intruding on your personal life." Lizzy implored.

He chuckled, "There is nothing to forgive Miss Bennet, you asked a question and I answered. If anyone should be asking forgiveness than it's me."

she looked up at him, "What do you need to be forgiven for?" she asked.

"My behaviour toward you. I imagine that you dislike me for the few insults that I have sent your way which I shouldn't have said and so I apologise."

ooOoo

Elizabeth fell speechless when he offered her his apology over his behaviour towards her since their first meeting. Perhaps her first impression of him had been wrong. Perhaps he wasn't so disapproving and haughty as she had first concluded, maybe he was just new to the area and didn't converse easily?

"Thank you for the apology." she said quietly, looking back at the two boys who continued to laugh and play together.

They sat in silence for a while longer, watching as Leonard and Harry slowly got bored of playing in the park when Harry ran up to Lizzy.

"Lizzy, swan boat!" the four year old requested.

She smiled, "Are you going to peddle with me?" she asked.

Harry shook his head and pointed to Darcy, "He can!" he declared happily.

Lizzy laughed, "I think Mr Darcy and Leo have other plans Harry."

Harry pouted until Leo ran up to the three of them, "Uncle Will, please, please can we go on the swan boats with Lizzy and Harry?"

William looked at her and his eyes seemed somewhat warmer in his expression towards her now, certainly the opposite of how he had looked at her during that first meeting and even the second.

"If Miss Bennet doesn't object then yes we can."

Lizzy nodded her head in agreement that he and Leo could join them and they left the park, walking over to the little cafe to pay for a ride in one of the boats before the man gestured to the one they were going to have. The kids climbed into the back, as Darcy held on to Lizzy's hand to help her on to the side of the front that faced the water before climbing in himself. It had been a while since she had been on one of these boats, and after steering the boat into the direction of the middle of the lake, she and William began to peddle the boat.

ooOoo

"Faster Faster!" Harry exclaimed excitedly.

He looked at Lizzy who had started to laugh even more, such a delightful sound and the way her eyes lit up when she did so made him hooked to them any more. She had no idea how she had already enchanted him with her charms, her looks and her teasing. It was impossible to find himself attracted to someone so soon surely?

"I think they want us to peddle faster." Lizzy mused.

"I think we can do that, unless your legs are tired Miss Bennet?" he teased.

Lizzy raised an eyebrow, "What are you suggesting?" she asked him.

He grinned, "Can you peddle faster than I can?"

The two peddled as fast as they could, the whole length of the lake until Lizzy changed course to return back to the dock because their time was up. William looked at the various children and people who were walking their dogs on the land, watching as some teenagers in school uniform were crabbing in the lake whilst primary school children rode their bikes as dog walkers stopped to grab themselves an ice cream. His first impressions of Portsmouth hadn't been that great, it was the most over populated city in England and the employment market was high in unemployment due to budget cuts but it was the seaside and Leonard needed a change from the countryside around Pemberley and being stuck inside the manor with only a private tutor to keep him company.

He had decided that Leonard needed to have the same experiences that other children had, such as going to a school that the local authority funded, wearing a school uniform and interacting with children his own age. Of course, Georgiana had been around during her school holidays but most of the time she was away at boarding school. For now, Leonard still had his private tutor but once September came, he would be enrolled in school and wouldn't be so lonely. At the moment Darcy didn't know how long he would have Leonard in Portsmouth but they had both needed a change from the ghosts of their life in Pemberley.

The swan boat was docked and they all climbed out, with Lizzy thanking William for paying for the swan boat despite her insistence that she pay for it because Harry had originally wanted to go on one but he refused to take her money. They continued to walk until they stopped outside their house.

"Uncle Will, can Harry come and play with my toys please?" Leo asked.

He looked at Lizzy, "It's entirely up to you. I don't want to intrude on your plans any further."

She hesitated for a moment before smiling, "I don't mind, I just have to keep him amused until Paige collects him at nine."

"Cool!" Leonard said excitedly.

"Harry, you can go and play with Leo but we have to leave in a little while to get you some dinner." Lizzy said to the four year old.

They made their way past the security gate and up the cobbled driveway and he watched as Lizzy looked up at the house in admiration, the balcony that came out from his bedroom and overlooked the lake. He opened the front door and allowed the two boys and Miss Bennet inside, watching as the two boys took off their shoes and ran upstairs to Leo's bedroom to play.

"Ahh Fitzwilliam, you're back." Margaret greeted.

He caught the gaze of Lizzy who looked at him with a raised eyebrow and her eyes questioning why the housekeeper had called him 'Fitzwilliam' instead of 'William' as she had been introduced to him by Charles.

"Yes, Leo has a friend to play with. Mrs Margaret Reynolds, may I introduce Miss Elizabeth Bennet." William said.

"It's nice to meet you." Margaret said warmly.

"You too." Lizzy replied.

"What would you like for dinner Fitzwilliam? Will you be eating with Leonard and your guests?"

William looked to Elizabeth and asked, "Would you and Harry like to stay for dinner?"

ooOoo

His invitation to dine with them had taken her by surprise. She had intended to allow Harry to play for an hour before they walked back to her flat so that she could cook him something.

"I don't want to be a burden." she replied.

"Nonsense my dear, I enjoy cooking. The more the merrier!" Margaret insisted.

"I think Leo would like it very much if Harry stayed for dinner. It would also give me an opportunity to dine with someone other than Charles." William explained.

"Okay then." Lizzy agreed.

"What would you like? Leonard was asking for pizza this morning."

William led Lizzy into the kitchen to sit at the dining table as Margaret began to pour them both a coffee.

"Shall we order from the local pizza place?" William asked Lizzy.

"Domino's is quite good and has a lot of deals on with sides and drinks." she suggested.

"I've never had a takeaway from there before. In fact, very rarely have I had a takeaway. I think the last time I had one was when I was at Cambridge." William admitted.

Her eyes widened, "Mr Darcy, surely you joke?" she teased.

He shook his head, "Mrs Reynolds is an excellent cook and living in countryside doesn't usually allow for takeaways." he explained.

"Then you have been missing out on city life."

"I've lived in London every now and again, I'll have you know!"

ooOoo

Lizzy laughed as he left the room with the landline telephone to order a pizza, leaving her in the kitchen with Mrs Reynolds. Her gaze went to a picture frame hanging on the wall, a family picture. On closer inspection she looked upon the smiling faces of Mr Darcy, an older man who had passed on his looks to William, a girl who shared the same mouth and eye shape as Mr Darcy and two others who didn't. The girls were blonde haired, one sharing the same brown as William and the other had a light green colour; as did the other man. There was a child in the picture, no older than a year, with the same looks that Leo had now that she concluded the picture was taken when Leonard was a baby.

"It's a favourite picture of many." Mrs Reynolds said fondly, handing Lizzy her coffee mug.

"A family portrait?" she asked.

Mrs Reynolds nodded, the two women continuing to look at the picture.

"It was taken on Leonard's first birthday. You see the young girl there, that's Fitzwilliam's sister Georgiana she was nine when this was taken and his cousins Frank and Lucy and Reginald Darcy, their father." Mrs Reynolds pointed out.

On closer look, Leo shared much of Lucy's looks, the same facial shape and features except for the eye colour. Lucy's green and Leo's blue.

"I've worked for the Darcy family for the majority of my life, I've known the Darcy children since they were babes newly born. The family has suffered much in their short amount of life."

Lizzy looked at the woman, "How so?" she asked curiously.

"Frank and Lucy aren't Darcy's born. They are the niece and nephew of the late Mrs Darcy as their last name is Fitzwilliam. Their parents were killed when they were young children and Mr Darcy adopted them as his own children shortly before Georgiana was born. Mrs Darcy died three years after the birth of Georgiana."

What a lot for a family to go through in a short amount of time. Lizzy felt her insides tie into a knot now that she knew from Mrs Reynolds that the family had suffered much and from what Mr Darcy had told her earlier in the park that his adoptive sister had died and now hearing the other things that had happened in his family, she felt that maybe she had been entirely wrong about him from the beginning. Perhaps he was only the way he was because he was suffering a great deal?

One thing she decided upon was that she wanted to get to know him better, to see whether she had been completely wrong and to see whether she could make a friendship with William Darcy


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews so far, it's nice to hear your thoughts and it keeps me inspired to know that you're enjoying it. As a thank you, I've written this one a lot sooner than I intended. In reply to one review, no Keira and Kieron aren't related, their names were just the first few that popped into my head. This chapter will focus more on Lizzy's placement and her attachment to Jacob and a little more about her family.

* * *

Lizzy woke on Wednesday morning feeling a little more happier than normal. The night before she had pizza with Harry, William and Leo, watched a shrek movie until Leonard had fallen asleep next to her and Harry wasn't far behind, she had text Paige that she was still at William's house when her friend was due to close the cafe. After Will had carried Leonard up to his bedroom, they sat in the kitchen with a glass of wine each and talked a little more.

 _"Four sisters, mine were enough!" William laughed._

 _Lizzy smiled, "I love them dearly but they can be a handful from time to time." she agreed._

 _"Are you the eldest?"_

 _She shook her head, "Second daughter of five, I have three younger sisters. One is in her first year of university, another is nearly seventeen in sixth form and my younger one is nearly fifteen in secondary school. My eldest sister is a year older than me, she's a teacher." she explained._

 _"Do you live near them?" he asked._

 _Again, she shook her head, "No, they live in Hertfordshire so it's about three hours away on the train." she answered._

 _"A lot closer than Derbyshire. Although Portsmouth is proving to be a good choice of moving." Darcy said, taking a large mouthful from his glass._

 _Lizzy smiled, "It isn't home but I love the sea breeze, I love the people that I've met in my three years here."_

 _"What do you study?"_

 _"Early childhood studies with psychology."_

 _Darcy smiled at her, "Very admirable, my sister wanted to work with children if she had lived." he complimented._

 _She blushed slightly, "I wouldn't really say admirable, I just want to make some child's life better."_

 _"What made you decide to do that?"_

 _Elizabeth found herself pausing, it was a long story why she had wanted to be a social worker but the person behind it all was George Wickham and although she wanted to get to know Darcy better, digging into her past would most likely scare him away._

 _"It's quite a long story that I'm not ready to share just yet. I will tell you but in my own time, sorry."_

 _He nodded stiffly, "No need to apologise, we're just getting to know one another."_

 _The front door opened and Charles walked into the kitchen with Paige. Lizzy explained that Harry had fallen asleep on the sofa so they all shared another glass of wine before Charles suggested that they go to the pub on Friday after the close. Paige announced that she'd try and get a sitter while Lizzy asked if it was okay to invite Charlotte as she had already planned to meet up with her._

She remembered the events from the night before, noting how nice it was to get to know Darcy a little better and how he had agreed that going to the pub on Friday would be a good way to get to know the people in Bingley's life. Lizzy quickly washed and dressed into the clothes suitable for working at the children's home and packed her bag to include lunch and her uniform to work that afternoon. There was just over two weeks left at the children's home until her placement was concluded and she felt kind of devastated. Lizzy loved working there, the children were some of the best children she had ever known and Jacob had had no more bad behaviour at school since her conversation with him; she didn't want his behaviour to revert when he would eventually find out that her place there wasn't forever.

Lizzy locked up her flat and left, beginning her walk to the children's home as her phone began to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket and smiled as she saw Jane's picture on the screen.

"It's a bit early for you to call me isn't it?" Lizzy teased.

"I have meetings after school and I know you work on Wednesday afternoons so I thought I'd ring you before school starts." Jane replied.

"How are you?" Lizzy asked.

"I'm okay, life at home would be more bearable if you were there. Lydia is currently in a strop because Dad is refusing to let her go to France in July."

"What did Lydi do?"

"She was caught in a compromising position with a boy in the caretaker's cupboard at school."

Lizzy rolled her eyes, her youngest sister always had been a bit of a flirt and she craved attention from those who simply looked at her. Lydia was a spoiled brat in a way, she was definitely their mother's favourite and always got away with everything. In her opinion, Lydia needed a little bit of discipline but neither of their parents were able to provide it.

"That doesn't surprise me. Our father will eventually cave and allow Lydia to go."

"We all know that." Jane agreed.

"How are Kitty and Mary? Mum and Dad?" Lizzy asked.

"All well, Mary came home last weekend from university for a visit. She's doing well there, enjoying her music." said Jane.

Lizzy smiled at the news that all of her sisters and parents were all well. She was already more than halfway to work as she passed Portsmouth school for girls, another twenty minutes and she'd be arriving at the children's home.

"It's good to hear that everyone is well," said Lizzy, "I'll be coming to see you all in August if Charles can get me the time off."

"I can't wait another three months Lizzy! The last time we saw you was Christmas." Jane complained.

"I miss you too Jane, I wish I could come home more but I can't. Especially as Wickham is back in Meryton."

"We've hardly seen him, if he sees us he avoids us. Our father nearly beat him to a bloody pulp the first time their paths crossed."

Lizzy froze, it wasn't like their father to lose his temper so easily.

"What happened Jane?"

"It was two days after I told you he was in the army regiment that's settled near Meryton, Dad had come to meet me from work. As we were walking back to Longbourn, he was walking in the direction of the house asking to see you. When dad said that he didn't want him anywhere near Longbourn or to you, Wickham turned nasty. He said some horrible things about you and father pushed him against the wall, had his arm across Wickham's throat and nearly choked the life out of him. He only stopped because I begged him too."

"He would have deserved it after what he did to me!" Lizzy replied bitterly.

"Lizzy!"

"What? Of course I have no desire that our father be sent to prison for anything he would do to Wickham but the man deserves it Jane!" Lizzy insisted.

"Maybe so. But let's change the subject. Half term is in two weeks and I have the week off, are you busy?" Jane asked.

"I still have uni but my placement will be finished by then, my tutor has said that towards the end we should just be focussing on our dissertations so I will rarely be going to lectures. I will have work at some point but I'll speak to Charles if you're thinking of coming down for a few days." she replied.

"Is it okay to come and visit? It'll just be me."

"Of course it is! I long to see you. I've missed you terribly Jane."

"Great! Talk to Charles later and let me know so we can make plans from there."

"I'll speak to you soon Jane."

"Bye Lizzy."

The phone call to her sister had ended as Lizzy took off her bag and hung it up in the office and was greeted by Elaine.

"Good morning Elizabeth, Isaac and Helena are finishing up breakfast now before taking the minibus out to schools. Could you take Jacob to Mayfield for me? It's only a short walk and he seems to have taken a shine to you when you take him in the mornings." Elaine requested.

"Of course."

"When you return there's something I need to discuss with you about Jacob."

Lizzy helped the other children gather their lunchboxes and book bags and watched as the other children climbed on to the minibus to be taken to the other two schools that the children attended. She and Jacob left the children's home and began their walk along London road to the school that Jacob attended. He seemed a little bit down today when the past few times she had seen him he had been quite happy.

"What's the matter Jacob?" she asked.

He looked up at her, "Everyone leaves me." he mumbled.

"Oh Jacob-"

"You're leaving me! I heard Elaine talking!" Jacob shrieked, flapping his arms about in his frustration.

Since the incident with Kieron, whenever Lizzy worked the mornings she would take him to school, whenever she worked in the afternoons she would pick him up from school and although she mostly picked Jacob up since the second week of her placement, she had begun to get a little more involved in his structure of care in the children's home; becoming aware of his routine and the way he liked things to be done, requiring a lot of patience and understanding. She knelt down to his eye level, holding his arms in her hands to prevent him from lashing out but he began to rock backwards and forwards on his toes, avoiding making eye contact with her.

"Jacob, I promise I will always come and see you. I won't leave you!" Lizzy promised.

"You will!"

"I promise I won't. Now can we go to school and enjoy the walk?"

It took a little bit longer to calm Jacob down completely before their walk to the school continued; with Jacob constantly asking her to promise not to forget about him to which she promised that she wouldn't. It was days like this that made her want to help Jacob with his disorder and make his life circumstances a little better. A child like Jacob needed consistency and everything kept changing just as he got into a routine. Lizzy dropped Jacob off at his class, giving him a cuddle before he went in with the other children and walked back to the children's home. On her return, Elaine called her into her office. Lizzy shut the door behind her and sat in the empty seat as Elaine sat in her own.

"Elizabeth, you're placement here is due to finish in just over two weeks. Over the six weeks that you have already been here, the team and I have noticed a change in Jacob's behaviour. I have been speaking with some people involved with Jacob's education decisions for next year at the council and we want to offer you a part time job from September."

Her eyes widened, "Elaine, are you serious?"

Elaine nodded, "From September, Jacob will be moved to the Mary Rose school. It's a specialist school who can deal with children with autism and other disorders where they won't specifically fit in well in a mainstream school environment, the job we are offering is as a support worker for Jacob. You will pick him up every morning and accompany him on the minibus to school, you'll be given work to do with him during the course of the morning and finish at lunch time. In the afternoons he'll be going to therapy classes with trained therapists."

"It sounds wonderful."

"It's a great opportunity for the two of you. If I had any jobs going here then I would instantly offer you one but because the education department believe that a mainstream school setting isn't the right place for Jacob, he needs to be moved. His educational statement will be changing to reflect his needs a little better and within time, we're hoping that he may be able to cope with his condition."

"When do I start?" Lizzy asked.

"The fifth of September when he starts school, you start at nine and finished at noon. In the mean time, I'm sure Jacob would like you to visit once the placement is finished and I hope you enjoy your summer."

Lizzy left Elaine's office to help Isaac with Toby and Lisa; grinning the entire way at the news that she had a fantastic opportunity in a few months time. This way she could still keep her promise to Jacob and she could still work evenings at Fagin's for a little while. The rest of the morning went rather quickly after her meeting with Elaine, she played with Toby for a little while and helped Helena prepare the two of them their lunch before she left to start her shift at Fagin's.

She ate her lunch on the way to Fagin's, entering the staff room and changing into her work uniform and tying her hair up into a messy bun. At two o'clock she clocked in and let Mary leave as Charles walked into the cafe.

"Afternoon Lizzy, how's the placement going?" Charles asked.

Lizzy grinned, "Brilliantly! I have a few things that I need to talk to you about." she replied.

Charles nodded sadly, "You're leaving aren't you?"

"Not as such. I've been offered a job as a support worker for one of the boys in the children's home for when he transitions to a new school, it will require me to work mornings and finish at lunchtimes so I could still do a few closes if you'd still have me stay."

"Lizzy, I don't want you to go overboard. Don't stay here because you feel that you have to."

"I want to stay, I love it here." Lizzy insisted.

"I'm sure once I get a few part timers in place of the ones that I let go, I can give you a shift or two. Anything else you want to talk about?"

"My sister Jane is coming down to stay for a few days in half term, I was wondering if it was possible to not work on the Thursday night so that I can have a little bit of time with her?" she asked.

"I'll cover your shift, I want to help you all out as much as I can during my stay here."

"Thank you Charlie!" she squealed, giving him a tight hug.

"I remember you saying that you wanted a few weeks off in August to return to Hertfordshire?" Charles asked.

Lizzy nodded, "That's true."

"I'm returning to Netherfield at the start of August, would you like me to drive you?" he asked.

She froze, she hadn't been in a car on a long journey in such a long time. Taxi's were a different story, she could handle a taxi because her journey was mostly short ones and she was usually with Charlotte or Maria when she did get one and it was because she was with people she trusted that she wasn't so scared. It wasn't that she didn't trust Charles, because she did. Lizzy didn't know whether getting in a car to do a very long journey to visit her parents back was a good idea, she feared long journeys in cars.

"Can I get back to you on that? the journey together I mean?" she muttered quietly.

His eyes widened, "Lizzy, have you not been in a car since it happened?" he asked, concerned.

Lizzy began to start clearing tables as Charles served a few customers that had come in, knowing that her friend wasn't going to drop the subject and get an answer out of her. As she began to load the dishwasher, Charles served the last customer and came up to her.

"Lizzy?"

She sighed heavily, "I can handle journeys of short duration such as thirty minutes or less. Anything over an hour I can't handle, you know why." she stated.

"Lizzy, it's okay. I would never leave you, you know that don't you? I consider our friendship rather important to me." Charles whispered.

She looked up at him, smiling slightly, "I know Charles, it means a lot to me to have you as a friend as well as my boss. I just haven't dealt with it properly yet."

"If you ever need anything, I'm always around okay?"

Elizabeth nodded as she went back to her work, wondering if a day would ever come where she would be able to face all her fears and put the past behind her.

* * *

 **A/N 2:** Just in case some of you are confused, Jane's profession is a teacher. The UK education system is a little different, all students start in September depending on when the school decides term starts, university and further education colleges are a little different. The school year is split into three terms Sept-Dec with a week called half term around Halloween. Two weeks off at Christmas. Term 2 is Jan-March/April with half term for one week in Feb and two weeks whenever Easter occurs. Term 3 is April-July with one week half term in May and 6/7 weeks off at summer.

I don't mean to add to your confusion about Lizzy's past. I promise that as the story progresses you will find out what happened to Lizzy and about Wickham but because it's still early days, I don't want to ruin the plot of the story.

As always please review, next chapter coming very soon. I'm thinking maybe mid week-weekend :)


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** As promised, here is the next chapter midweek. thanks for all the reviews so far and as always keep them coming :) I've also started another P&P story called All for you if you'd like to give that a read?

* * *

"You mean to say that this is the same guy that you told off for being rude the first time you met? You had pizza and an afternoon out with this guy?" Charlotte quizzed.

Lizzy smiled, tucking a loose curl behind her ear as she paid for their cocktails. She carried the jugs as Charlotte took their glasses and made their way to an empty table. It was seven o'clock on Friday night and The Trafalgar wasn't that busy just yet, the two story Wetherspoon's had two bars one upstairs and the other down and on Friday and Saturday nights a section by the bar was transformed into a dance floor with a DJ and disco lights. Both Lizzy and Charlotte had chosen to meet up a little earlier to catch up just the two of them and chose to sit downstairs so that when the others arrived, they'd be easily spotted.

"He doesn't seem to be the stuck up man I thought he might have been, he's opened up I suppose. He apologised to me for being rude, it was quite a pleasant evening." Lizzy replied.

Charlotte poured herself some of the cocktail into her own glass, "So you're becoming friends?"

Lizzy shrugged, "I don't know, I'd like to know him better." she replied.

"Be careful Lizzy, if you start to like this man make sure you do know him before anything happens." Charlotte cautioned.

"I'm not stupid!"

"I didn't say you were. The last person you fell for turned out to be a complete liar."

Lizzy's smile faded, "Can we not talk about that tonight?" she asked.

"You have to talk about it sometime, you're going home in a few months-"

"Ahh there you are!" Charles greeted.

Lizzy looked up, looking at Charles and Darcy; both had opted for the casual look of jeans and a shirt, Charles was blue and Darcy's was black with the sleeves rolled up effortlessly. Her eyes met his dark brown ones, filled with warmth as he smiled at her. She smiled in return, looking at the way his curly brown hair was unruly for the first time since she had met him, it wasn't neatly combed; it just fell into their own place naturally.

"Nice to see you again." Charlotte said politely.

"I'll get us some drinks." Charles said, heading up to the bar.

"I fancy some shots, everyone in?"

"Thank you but I rarely do shots." Darcy replied stiffly.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "I think you were wrong about what you told me Lizzy." she muttered and then left her seat to head to the bar after Charles.

Lizzy and Darcy sat alone, looking at each other awkwardly.

"Do you ever allow yourself to have fun with other adults around the same age as you?" Lizzy snapped.

Darcy looked at her coldly, "Forgive me, Elizabeth, today has been quite a trying day." he replied.

"Would you like to talk about it?" she asked, leaning a little closer as the DJ had started playing a louder song.

"Maybe later." William replied.

Charlotte returned with two beers for Charles and William as Charles carried over two trays of sixteen shot glasses, all different colours of orange, blue, red and green.

"If I come into work tomorrow feeling a little delicate Charles, you can't blame me." Lizzy laughed.

"I bought them so the fault will be mine." Charles grinned.

"Your friend doesn't seem to be keen in taking part and having fun." Charlotte pointed out.

"Come on Darcy! don't be a stiff board. Mrs Reynolds is looking after Leonard, Paige and Mary will be along in a few hours. It's not everyday that we get to go out and have fun." Charles tutted.

William smiled, "It's been a while since I last did shots." he mused and picked up one of the orange coloured ones.

Lizzy picked up one of the red coloured ones, catching Wiliam's gaze as she downed the shot; gagging at the aftertaste. The red ones did not taste nice, it was almost as if it tasted medicinal. William downed the orange one, liking the taste of mango mixed with vodka. It carried on for a while until the four of them had consumed all thirty two of the shots.

"So Charlotte, are you seeing anyone?" Charles asked.

Lizzy smiled, "She's in a relationship with my cousin Bill." she said for her friend.

Charlotte shot her friend a look of the wide eyes which told Lizzy _'I could've told him_ _that'_ to which Lizzy's smile turned into a mischievous grin.

"Lizzy? Are you?"

She shook her head, "I'm too busy for a relationship." she replied.

ooOoo

He didn't know why he felt relieved when the beautiful woman sat next to him declared that she was single, he didn't understand why the news of Elizabeth Bennet being available pleased him as such.

"You've been single for at least three years Lizzy! Relationships aren't so bad!" Charlotte stated in her tipsy state.

William noticed how she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, turning her attention to her cocktail and sipping it through her straw. Had she had a bad experience? Is that why her best friend's statement had made her lose interest in the conversation? Charles soon changed the subject on to Charlotte, asking her how long she and Lizzy had been friends. It turned out that Elizabeth had known Charlotte Lucas since she had first moved to Portsmouth, both were living in halls of residence but Charlotte was a year older than her.

He learned that Charlotte studied Law at the university and lived in London with her parents and twin sister Maria. She had been dating Bill for a few months and then he had to listen to how Charlotte told Charles about Bill being a trainee vicar in Kent to the De Bourgh family. _Aunt Catherine's family,_ he thought to himself, it was strange that he had met Bill Collins in the past and didn't know that the vicar had a connection to the woman sat next to him.

Darcy rose, announcing that he'd be back and headed upstairs to the toilets.

ooOoo

Paige and Mary got to The Trafalgar at half past eight, heading up to the bar with Charlotte and Charles to get some more drinks in; leaving Lizzy sat at their table by herself. The night was enjoyable so far, filled with conversations and laughter, even William Darcy had joined in and relaxed slightly. Her eyes scanned the now crowded bar and caught two men with dark hair looking in her direction. One of them smiled creepily at her, that caused her to look around for one of the girls; hoping that she wouldn't be left on her own for much longer.

The man who smiled at her came over and sat in William's seat, placing a hand on her knee.

"You're a bit forward aren't you?" Lizzy scolded, throwing the man's hand from her.

"Come on sweetheart, I saw you making eyes at me." the man replied, his brown eyes changing colour because of the disco lights.

"I think you must have had too much to drink, or are you always this idiotic?"

"One dance sweetheart, that's all I want." the man said, standing to his feet and tugging Elizabeth to her own.

Lizzy laughed, "I think you'll find that I don't appreciate your advances. Trying to force yourself on to a woman because you want a quick layabout doesn't boost your chances with me."

The man turned angry, grasping hold of her tightly, "What did you just say to me?" he yelled.

Lizzy glared at him, trying to shove him backwards, "You're only proving that you lack intelligence the further you persist in harassing me, I don't want anything to do with you. You're revolting and persistence in pursuing me despite my rejection only adds to your unattractiveness."

The man released her, raising a hand to try to punch her when someone caught his fist and shoved him backwards. Lizzy looked up to see the furious look on Darcy's face.

"The lady said no." William growled, clenching his fists.

As if the man knew better than to pick a fight, he gave Lizzy one last dirty look before leaving the building .

ooOoo

He had seen how she was trying to reject the man who had clearly become _too friendly_ with her and whatever she had said to him was enough for the man to try and lash out at Elizabeth. Darcy knew he couldn't stand for it, he had never felt so angry in his life.

"Thank you." Lizzy said.

Darcy took hold of her arm, grabbing her bag and leading her outside to where they could talk without having to shout just so that the other could hear. Once outside, he placed his finger under her chin and examined her face a littler closer. She didn't have a mark on her, thank god. Her hazel eyes were quizzical, looking up at him underneath long, black painted eyelashes.

"Did he hurt you?" Darcy asked, continuing to examine her face.

Lizzy shook her head, "No but I think I hurt him." she replied quietly.

He released her face gently and frowned, "How did you hurt him?"

She smiled slightly which only made him feel confused, "I may have told him that he was idiotic to keep trying his way with me and that in trying to force himself on me it only added to his revolting persistent and unattractive nature." she grinned.

He laughed, no longer feeling so angry that Lizzy had been able to speak her mind to the man and reject him without getting physical but was still rather glad that he had stepped in when he did.

"You certainly are amusing, Elizabeth." he complimented.

She blushed slightly, "I think I should head home, I have the open tomorrow."

"I'll walk you, I promised Charles that if he was unable to open with you that I would step in his place." he replied.

Darcy got out his phone and text Charles that he was walking her home and would see him back at the house when the two started the walk back to Elizabeth's flat; ignoring the blaring music and vomiting girls as they strode through Guildhall Walk. Up in the halls of residence, a man pulled down his trousers and bared his backside to the drunk students that partied in the clubs below. He rolled his eyes, knowing that he had never done that in his years at Cambridge.

"So, why was your day so trying?" Lizzy asked.

"I had a disagreement with my father on the phone today."

"Was it bad?"

Darcy nodded, "A little, he wants me to return to Pemberley to learn how to manage the estate and begged for me to return Leonard to him. I feel guilty because he's alone in the house but there's too many painful memories for me and for Leonard."

"Your sister?"

"Lucy was only eighteen when she died. Leonard was a toddler and he needed to be around children his own age, we both needed to get away for a little while."

"Can your father not visit?"

"My sister is due home from boarding school in two weeks so he'll have someone to occupy his time for a little while. When Georgie goes back to boarding school, I have no doubt that the conversation will be brought up again." he sighed.

"I understand." Lizzy muttered.

He frowned, "Forgive me if this is rude, but how could you possibly understand?" William asked her.

They crossed the road and continued their walk through Somerstown, "You aren't the only person who moved away from the family home to start afresh." she said quietly.

Curiosity overcame him, "Would you mind me asking what happened in your circumstances?"

"Something happened to me when I was seventeen, in truth I nearly died. It took a long road of recovery with a lot of therapy and I started to apply for university. The life at home was hard and if you ever meet my mother you would understand. Portsmouth is only three hours away on the train but to my father it's too far, I don't go home that often when I would like nothing more, so whenever I speak with my parents they always say that I should come home instead of giving me the space to get my life together." she explained.

"Are you getting your life together?"

Lizzy nodded, "Slowly, I'm about to graduate and I have a job lined up for September which is what I've wanted to do for the last few years of my life. There's still a lot that I need to come to terms with regarding what happened but I have a lot of support from the friends who know what happened to me." she replied.

They reached the security door to her flat and stopped outside. Although she hadn't shared the exact details of her situation, he could tell that it affected her in a way that she needed to come to terms with it in her own time. Just by her sharing that little bit of detail made him realise that he had a little bit in common with Elizabeth and he wanted to find out what else they shared in common.

"Would you like to come up for a cup of tea? I always have one before I settle down for the night."

William smiled, "I do as well. But as much as I would like to continue our conversation, I have to decline this time. I have a housekeeper whose kindness I don't want to take advantage of and a best friend who most likely will need me to open up his cafe." he chuckled.

Elizabeth smiled, her eyes lighting up when she did so, "Thank you again." she replied.

"No need to thank me, I wouldn't allow a scumbag to harm you."

"Goodnight William."

"Goodnight Elizabeth."

He watched as she unlocked her security door and headed inside her building, turning he made his own walk home; finding himself intrigued by her and he couldn't for the life of him find an explanation as to why.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** So thank you again for all the reviewing, please continue to do so as it really does keep me inspired. Now I'd like to stress that this chapter is beginning another plot for later on in the story, the reason for doing so is to raise awareness, I apologise in advance if you are sensitive and get upset with the issue but sadly this happens everyday in the world. If you don't want to read, I understand so please don't read this chapter if you're sensitive to the issue I want to raise awareness to.

As of next week, I'm aiming to update on a weekly basis on all my stories that are a work-in-progress. At the moment I'm thinking of Mondays but I will let you know if this changes.

* * *

It was three o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon during half term and the Bennet family were sat in their living room. Mary was playing on the piano whilst Mrs Bennet was reading a book in her armchair. Mr Bennet was in his library, going over the accounts for the estate. Meanwhile, Kitty and Lydia sat in boredom.

"Mum, can Kitty and I go into Meryton? I need to get some fabric to finish off my art and design project." Lydia asked.

"Of course my dears! We won't let you fall behind on your homework." Mrs Bennet replied happily.

The two girls grinned at each other and rushed to collect their bags before leaving Longbourn, skipping down the country lane that headed in the direction of Meryton. Of course, fabric had been the last thing on Lydia's mind, the one thing she truly wanted to see was the army officers who had been settled in Meryton for nearly a month. But if their father had known the true reason behind her trip to Meryton, he would have forbade her from going; he was still angry with her about the cupboard incident and it had been the longest that he had ever punished one of his daughters.

"I wonder if Denny will be in the village?" Kitty asked.

"Oh I hope so, he really suits an army uniform." Lydia giggled.

"So does Sanderson, I'm so happy that we have some real men staying near Meryton." Kitty sighed happily.

Lydia giggled again, the two girls beginning to run as Meryton came into their view. Nothing excited her more than a glimpse of a man in an army uniform, the ideal image in her head of a real hero. Army men were strong, tough and protective whilst at the same time carrying out their duties of protecting the country from harm. All she wanted for her future was to be married to such a man and make her sisters envious because her choice of partner would be better than any of theirs.

"Look, there's Denny!" Kitty pointed.

The two girls ran up to the man who they had befriended almost a month ago, smiling widely as Denny greeted them warmly.

"Hello Lydia, Hello Kitty!"

"Hello Denny, we weren't expecting to run into you." Lydia replied, batting her eyelashes.

"How are you girls?" Denny asked.

"I'm good thank you, I need to get some fabric for my art and design work." Lydia boasted.

Before Denny could reply, they were joined by a tall man. Lydia looked up, meeting his brown eyes and smiled widely. He was fearful handsome, dressed in his army greens, his brown hair shaved short.

"May I introduce my friend, George Wickham? George this is Catherine and Lydia Bennet."

Wickham took hold of their hands and shook them gently, "I suppose you don't remember me do you?" he asked the girls.

Both Kitty and Lydia shook their heads, "Why, do you know us?" Kitty asked.

"Yes, I used to know your sister Lizzy. You were both young girls the last time I saw you." Wickham replied.

"Not so young anymore." Lydia said quietly.

Wickham met Lydia's gaze, "I can assure you that you're correct. You are turning into a beautiful young lady Little Lydia."

Lydia blushed and giggled slightly, "When was the last time you saw Lizzy?"

"Four years ago, sadly we're not friends anymore."

"Oh poor you!" Kitty said sympathetically.

The four of them headed towards the fabric shop, with Denny heading off with Kitty as Wickham walked with Lydia.

"George, can I ask you something?" Lydia asked with curiosity.

"Yes you may."

"Were you in love with Lizzy?"

George nodded sadly, "I must admit that I still am," he replied, "Your sister didn't give me the chance to explain and so we parted on bad terms. I will always remember the short time that we had together."

"Oh you poor thing! Lizzy can be a bit stubborn at times." Lydia said, patting him on the arm.

"I wish her the best, I take it she's well?"

"Oh I think so, we don't speak much."

Lydia looked at a piece of pink silk that was a little too out of her price range and turned to look at some of the less fancier fabrics when Wickham stopped her.

"Would you like this fabric?" he asked.

Lydia nodded, "I can't afford it though." she sighed.

Wickham called over the shopkeeper, telling Lydia that he would pay for the fabric and any others that she wanted. Lydia squealed and hugged Wickham tightly in a thank you before heading off to examine other fabrics. He smiled to himself, knowing that the younger sister of his former flame would be an easy target. If he was ever going to speak to Elizabeth Bennet again, going through the little sister was his best option.

ooOoo

Meanwhile in Portsmouth, the day progressed slowly as Lizzy and William were closing together. The customers had been in small clumps and Fagin's was mostly a quiet atmosphere. Luckily, William suggested that they start on the closing prep before the cafe actually closed, that way they wouldn't be closing too late that night.

"Is it usually this quiet in the evenings?" Darcy asked, starting to load the dishwasher.

Lizzy smiled, "Most of the time and it's half term as well, I thought we'd get a few more kids in." she replied.

"Don't you get bored?" Darcy complained, closing the door and starting the dishwasher.

Lizzy shrugged, having closed for the second time with William since they had nearly a month ago. In that month she found herself starting to like the man, once he had started to converse with her a little better since their afternoon with the boys at Canoe Lake; he seemed quite pleasant.

"I'm going to start to clear away tables." Lizzy replied.

It was only seven o'clock, still another hour until they usually closed the cafe but for some reason today had been a quiet day for a Wednesday. Lizzy headed out from behind the counter, starting to wipe down the tables as William was wiping the countertops. He looked at her, his gaze staring at how she wore her hair; wondering if her hair was naturally that wavy. He wondered if she jogged in her spare time, her legs seemed quite strong as they were bare for him to see; Charles having made the mistake of allowing his female staff to wear shorts in the summer months and that backside...

His trail of thought didn't make him notice that her head had turned to catch him ogling her. Lizzy smirked and raised an eyebrow before giving a low cough of her throat. William's eyes met her own amused ones and he felt mortified that he had been caught staring.

"Did you see something you like?" she teased.

"Very much so, a woman who is good at her job." he replied with a smile.

Lizzy rolled her eyes, "Quite sexist you know!" she retorted.

"I take it back, you missed a spot." he teased.

She stood up, examining the table before she realised that he was teasing her. With a huge grin on her face that made her eyes sparkle, she threw her cloth at him. William didn't realise what she had done before it was too late; the cloth hit him in the face, earning him a wet slop and a laugh from Elizabeth. The cloth fell to the floor and their eyes met; her smile fading as he decided that the battle had begun.

William picked up the cloth he had been using to clean the countertops and moved from behind the counter, strolling casually on to the dining area as Lizzy backed away nervously. He grinned at her as her back was up against the wall with nowhere to run.

"Do I win?" William whispered.

Lizzy shook her head, placing her hands on his chest to try and keep a distance between them as he held the cloth over his hand. She tried to ignore the hardness of his chest underneath her hands.

"Take back your comment!" she laughed.

William grinned, "You started it." he pointed out.

"You were staring." she shot back with a grin.

The cloth came closer to her face, causing her to squeal and plead as she tried to push him away. But the cloth didn't make it to her face, they were interrupted by the sound of the door opening and a customer entering the cafe. William turned around to see a blonde haired woman standing in the doorway, eyes bright blue and looking at the two of them confused as she placed her suitcase on to the floor.

"Jane?" Lizzy asked with excitement.

William stood back as he watched Lizzy run up to the woman and embraced her tightly.

ooOoo

"Surprise!" Jane squealed as the two sisters released one another.

"You weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow!" Lizzy said happily.

"I thought I'd come tonight and surprise you from your shift." Jane replied.

Lizzy smiled, "I am surprised, how was the trip down here?" she asked.

Her sister sat at one of the tables as William switched the sign around and locked the door; finishing the tidying up of the cafe as Lizzy went to get Jane a drink from the fridge.

"Are you going to introduce me?" Jane asked, taking the can of sprite from Lizzy.

"William Darcy, this is my sister Jane Bennet." Lizzy introduced.

"Nice to meet you." William said politely.

"Have you known my sister long?"

"Nearly a month, I'm friends with Charles Bingley."

Jane nodded and watched as Lizzy mopped the cafe floor as William turned off the lights in the kitchen. Lizzy caught William's eye and smiled, something which hadn't gone unnoticed by Jane. Once she was finished, she grabbed her bag from the staff room and the three of them left the cafe, saying goodbye to William as he walked to the taxi rank and climbed into the last taxi that was sat waiting for a customer.

"So William Darcy?" Jane asked curiously.

"What about him?"

Jane raised an eyebrow, "What I walked in on? Flirting like that?"

Lizzy blushed, "It wasn't flirting," she insisted, "It was two friends mucking around."

Jane snorted, "Of course it was."

The two women walked through the town centre, stopping at a Ken's Kebabs shop to get themselves a pizza to share. Lizzy hoped to change the subject, trying to ask how the family was, if their father had yielded yet to Lydia going on the school trip to France but Jane was having none of it.

"Elizabeth Bennet! If I know anybody as much as I know myself than it's you. I know what I saw and I know that wasn't just 'two friends mucking around'. I think you like this man." Jane stated.

Lizzy blushed, "We're just friends Jane, nothing more." she insisted.

"Alright, I'll leave the subject be for now."

"Thank you," Lizzy replied, "Tell me everything that's been happening with you."

As her sister began to fill her in on how work was, how she was enjoying teaching. How she was looking at getting her own place to live instead of living with their parents, how Lydia, Kitty and Mary were, how their parents were doing, Lizzy loved hearing on the things that she had missed out on since her last visit to the family home at Christmas. But a part of her wondered about Jane's observation, was she flirting with William Darcy? At the time it didn't seem like it but then again her track history hadn't really allowed her to explore attraction to another man. At the moment she was enjoying her growing friendship with William, she wasn't even ready to consider the possibility that there was a more deeper connection between the two of them.


	7. Chapter 7

Wednesday night consisted of sharing a pizza and a bottle of wine as Jane and Lizzy went back to her flat. They caught up on the basics, their mother was still the same old as usual. Their father was busy managing the estate accounts, Kitty was doing well in sixth form whilst Lydia was still grounded which surprised Lizzy; the longest their father had been able to stick to a punishment was five days.

"I'm surprised she's still grounded, Lydia can be quite charming." Lizzy stated, topping up her wine glass.

Jane laughed, "Believe me, she's tried. Dad won't budge, although mum let her go to Meryton with Kitty earlier today and when dad found out he and mum had a row." she replied.

"Let me guess, Lydi has found a new obsession with Meryton in army officers and used another excuse as to her going into Meryton?" Lizzy asked.

Jane nodded, taking a mouthful of her wine, "She told mum that she needed to get fabric for her art and design project. To be fair, she did come home with the fabrics she needed."

Lizzy didn't know why she felt the need to ask her sister whether Wickham had made any more appearances since their father had threatened to beat him to a bloody pulp.

"Not that I've seen him. Lizzy, are you okay?" Jane asked, concerned.

Both women placed their wine glasses on the table as Lizzy sighed heavily.

"Out of all the army regiments there are, he had to be in the one that's settled in my home town." Lizzy said angrily.

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence-"

"No Jane! You can't see the best in him surely? Wickham is a snake, he always has an agenda."

"Has he tried to contact you?"

Lizzy shook her head, "He doesn't know where I am unless he's been able to find out through my family."

"Lizzy, talk to me. You've never really spoken about the accident or the aftermath properly. I'm concerned that since Wickham's reappearance that you're going to shut yourself off from everyone."

"What do you want me to say Jane? I'm angry, of course I am. I'm angry that the man who was supposed to be my boyfriend left me. I got into that car not knowing that he had stolen it because he wanted me to sleep with him and he thought the best way to go about it was to impress me by stealing a car with dodgy seatbelts." Lizzy cried.

"You went through quite an ordeal." Jane agreed.

"I was comatose because of the swelling on my brain, not to mention the slipped disc in my back which required weeks of therapy and the broken ribs, arm and leg. I nearly died, how many times did they want mum and dad to switch off my life support machine until dad insisted that they try to let me breathe on my own?"

"Twice, the first time they tried to get you to breathe without support was unsuccessful. They told us that the longer you were on life support you could have been brain damaged. A week later dad insisted that they try again because he wanted you to pull through, he believed that you could. He sat by your side the whole time and cried buckets when you took that breath by yourself. You woke up properly two days later."

"I wish it had been Wickham." Lizzy said bitterly.

"We all do. He claimed to love you-"

"And then he got out of the car with a few cuts and bruises and ran for it, leaving me with life threatening injuries and not bothering to call an ambulance. It was a complete stranger who found me."

"Has he ever told you why he walked away?"

Lizzy nodded and let out a cold laugh, "He said he panicked, he already had a criminal record and didn't want to go to prison. Of course, this was when I was in the hospital and dad had seen him. Dad allowed me to speak to him and called the police who arrested George at my bedside."

"I still can't believe that he got off with community service and a victim surcharge." Jane muttered.

"If George Wickham is anything, he's a charming actor." Lizzy stated.

"But where was he planning on taking you?" Jane asked.

"To Brighton. My favourite band were playing and he said that he had bought tickets for us to go." Lizzy replied.

Jane released a huge yawn which made Lizzy yawn herself as she checked her watch. It was nearing eleven o'clock and the two had planned to get up early to have a day of Lizzy showing Jane the sights of Portsmouth.

"Goodnight Jane." Lizzy said softly.

"Night Lizzy." Jane replied.

Lizzy went into the cupboard and pulled out her spare duvet, throwing it to Jane and closing her living room door as she headed into her bedroom. A part of her felt a little bit better about talking about her ordeal with her sister, ever since she had been told of George Wickham's reappearance she had been feeling on edge. She pulled on her pyjamas, climbing into her bed and setting her alarm clock for seven in the morning, drifting off to sleep.

ooOoo

"Hello Dad, it's a little late for a phone call." William said, laying back on his bed.

"I know it is Fitzwilliam but your sister is adamant that she won't go to bed until she has spoken to you." Reginald replied.

"Georgie has her own phone." William pointed out.

"Which she broke at boarding school." Reginald muttered.

"Okay, put her on."

William heard the sound of his father's mobile phone being passed over and he heard a breath into the phone.

"Hello Fitzwilliam." his younger sister said.

"Georgiana, I've missed you."

"I miss you and Leonard. How are you both?"

"We're okay G. Portsmouth is lovely."

"Why did you move Will? You didn't even tell me until I get a phone call at school to say that when I come home for half term my brother and my nephew won't be at Pemberley."

"I needed a change of setting Georgie, we both did. Pemberley will always be home but Leonard needed to experience being in a normal school setting with other children instead of being stuck inside a large manor with a private tutor. Lucy's memory is in every corner of Pemberley, the good and the bad. We both needed to have a fresh start, I'm not saying that Portsmouth is forever but for now, it's my life. The house I've bought is large, I've even saved a room for you to come and stay in during the holidays if you want to come and visit." William explained.

"Dad's all on his own here-"

"Georgie, don't let him get you involved in an argument that's between him and me. I won't allow it."

"I'm not Fitzwilliam. But dad is on his own, you've even got Mrs Reynolds where you are. Did you even think about me when you decided to uproot? Now both of my brothers have gone. I can deal with Frank being in the army, he's never really at Pemberley much but you were always there with Leonard. Fitzwilliam, you're the only reason I look forward to coming home, I hate it when I have to be away from you."

"Georgiana, I'm Leonard's guardian. I had to do what I thought was best for him. Of course I thought about you, if I had the choice I would have brought you with us but sadly, you're our father's responsibility for another three years. I promise that I will email you more often and call you more often. Do you want to see us in the summer holidays? We can sort something out so that we can come and see you."

"I'll settle for a long visit in the summer holidays for now."

William chuckled slightly, "Okay well it's late so we both need some sleep. I'll call you tomorrow or Friday and we can discuss a visit." he promised.

"Night William, I love you."

"Love you too little sister."

He ended the phone call, exhaling sharply as he climbed into bed. Knowing that he would be nagged to no end by his father, he decided that he would have to return to Pemberley this summer at some point with Leonard as he had promised Georgiana a visit and he always kept his promises to his little sister. William switched off his bedside lamp, falling into a restless sleep.

ooOoo

The next morning the Bennet sisters woke, ate a quick bite of some toast and each took a turn in the shower before dressing, hair brushed and styled and make up applied before leaving Lizzy's flat to start their day. Jane had been to Portsmouth before, having stayed with Lizzy in the October half term but they hadn't really done much except go clubbing in halloween costumes. Lizzy had decided to show Jane Southsea Castle, a little fortress built right on the seafront by Henry VIII to which Jane took a lot of photographs to show to her class who were currently doing their termly project on the tudor times.

They left the castle at eleven o'clock, walking along the seafront and along to Gunwharf Quays, a shopping complex with bars, restaurants, a nightclub, a cinema, a bowling alley and of course, plenty of shops; most importantly it was the home of Spinnaker Tower, one of the city's things to see. Jane wasn't overly fussed with paying money to go up the tower which gave you a pretty good view of the city of Portsmouth and had a glass floor which you could how high up you were by looking down at your feet. There were even some being abseiling down the tower. Instead, they looked around a few of the shops and decided to stop for lunch at Nando's.

Charlotte was working the day time shift, seeing Jane the two girls hugged. Jane had met Charlotte a few times that she had been down to visit Lizzy and the two had become good friends through their relationships with Lizzy. Charlotte seated them both at a table, handing over menus and chatted for a few minutes before a surge of customers walked through the door that called Charlotte back as her job as greeter. Both Lizzy and Jane opted for chicken burgers spiced lemon and herb with fries. Lizzy walked up to the till to place the order, getting them both a drink before returning to their table.

"I've got a job in September working as a support worker for Jacob, you know the boy I told you about in the children's home?" said Lizzy.

"Oh Lizzy, congratulations! What will it entail?" Jane asked.

"Only mornings but I take Jacob to school and support him with his work until I go home at lunch time. In the afternoons he'll be working with therapists. In the mean time I'm still going to be working at Fagin's and I'll be visiting Jacob every now and again until he starts his new school." Lizzy replied.

"Oh that's brilliant! I'm so happy for you." Jane squealed.

They were brought their meals, talking a little more of Lizzy's new job offer and Jane's love life which her sister said was non existent all bar a few dates with some men she had met through her friends at work who turned out to be pigheaded, too into their job to give her a second thought or never bothered to call her back. It was as Lizzy smiled and told her sister that she would eventually find the right one when Lizzy's phone rang.

"Hello Charles." Lizzy greeted.

"Lizzy, I'm afraid the cafe is going to be closed for a few days." Charles said.

"Oh no, why?"

"Darcy didn't close the dishwasher door properly when you two closed last night. The entire cafe is flooded and I've spent most of the morning trying to clean up and call out a plumber and one can't come out until tomorrow morning." Charles explained.

Lizzy laughed a little, "Oh dear." she replied.

"These things happen. Anyway, what are you doing tonight?" he asked.

"I'm with my sister remember?"

"Oh yes, silly me I forgot!" Charles said, "Well we're having a barbecue at Darcy's tonight if you both want to come? Mary is coming and Paige is bringing Harry. Invite some of your friends if you want, the more the merrier."

Lizzy held the phone away from her ear, looking at Jane.

"My boss is inviting us over for a barbecue, do you want to go?" Lizzy asked quietly.

Jane nodded, "Why not?" she asked with a shrug of the shoulders.

"We'll be there Charlie, do you want us to bring anything?"

"Excellent! I can't wait to meet your sister. Bring some drinks, not too much though. Darcy doesn't want that much alcohol around the boys."

"See you later Charles."

"Bye Lizzy."

She ended the phone call and pocketed her mobile phone, looking at Jane with a small smile.

"So is a certain dark and handsome man called William Darcy going to be at this barbecue?" Jane asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yes...it's actually at his house. Charles is staying with William." Lizzy answered.

"Admit it. You have the hots for this guy Lizzy, the way you two were last night. If I hadn't shown up when I did, you were minutes away from snogging him." Jane teased.

Lizzy blushed slightly, "He's becoming a good friend-"

"Don't try and brush this off as 'we're just friends' because I saw the way you looked at him when you said goodbye to him last night after we left the cafe. I haven't seen that look in years!" Jane said with a grin.

The two women rose from their table, both giving Charlotte a quick hug goodbye before Lizzy told her about the barbecue they had been invited to by Charles. Charlotte said she'd be there and that she'd bring Maria and a couple of lads that they had gone out with on her birthday. Lizzy and Jane left Nando's with Jane making a teasing comment or two about William Darcy before they headed back to her flat. Because the weather was rather hot outside, the perfect weather for a barbecue and because Portsmouth tended to get it's heatwave throughout May and June, Jane changed into a navy blue summer dress with thin straps, covered in white doves. Lizzy opted for a pair of denim shorts, a plain blue t-shirt and her light blue converses.

Lizzy's phone beeped as the two were watching catch-up for Coronation Street,

 _Hi Elizabeth, it's Will. Sorry to text out of the blue, Charles gave me your number. Bbq starts at 7._

 _Hi Will, that's ok no probs. Jane and I will see u then._

He text back within a minute of her sending her reply to him.

 _Did you invite anyone else? It's ok if u did._

 _Charlotte and her sister are coming & 2 guys we know from uni. _

_Great! see u soon._

Lizzy smiled which soon faded as she met the curious gaze of her sister, "Before you ask, yes it's Will." she confirmed.

" _Will_ is it now?" Jane teased.

Lizzy flushed bright red.

ooOoo

The smell of burgers cooking on the bbq in the back garden only added to the hunger but Will was glad that Mrs Reynolds had offered to start cooking the food before the guests started to arrive. He had no idea how many extra people would be coming but he was glad that Elizabeth had agreed to attend. Paige Forster and her son were already here, along with the red-headed Mary King who didn't really talk much. Leonard and Harry were playing with water guns, laughing hysterically as they ran around the back garden squirting each other.

At seven o'clock on the dot, there was a knock on the door. Will walked through the hallway and opened his front door, smiling when his eyes met those hazel ones that he seemed to have trouble forgetting.

"Hello Elizabeth. Jane." he greeted.

"Hello William." Lizzy replied, smiling.

He led them into the house, noticing that Charlotte, another woman and a man entered after them.

"William Darcy meet Maria Lucas, Charlotte's sister, and Matthew Lewis, a friend of ours from university." Lizzy introduced.

He shook hands with Maria and Matthew, leading them through to the back garden where Charles was sat talking with Paige and Mary. Once his best friend had seen Lizzy, he rose and hugged her tightly.

"Sorry about the dishwasher." Lizzy said apologetically.

"It's fine, Darcy's paid for the damage." Charles replied brightly.

"Charles, I don't understand how you can be so relaxed. I think I'd be stressed if it were my business." Lizzy laughed.

That laugh, he loved the sound of her laugh.

Charles shrugged, "Are you going to introduce me?" he asked.

William watched as Elizabeth introduced Charles to her sister and the two seemed to hit it off straight away. Charles immediately took Jane into the kitchen to get her a drink. _Someone's smitten_ he thought to himself as he helped Mrs Reynolds with the food that was already cooked. The barbecue seemed to be quite a good way to spend an evening, Charles's ipod played various tunes to which Paige and Mary were dancing to on the grass along with Matthew and Maria who were getting quite close. Elizabeth and Jane were chatting with Charlotte, whilst Charles couldn't take his eyes off of Lizzy's older sister. But he found that he couldn't take his eyes from Lizzy.

When more food was prepared, he made sure that the boys had their fair share before allowing the adults to help themselves. He went into the kitchen to help himself to a beer when he found Lizzy pouring herself another glass of wine from the bottle she had brought with her.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked.

Lizzy nodded, "It's quite a good way to spend an evening. I think Jane is quite taken with Charles, she keeps blushing whenever he talks to her." she replied.

"I think the same can be said with Charles, he's been staring at her all night."

ooOoo

"So you aren't the only one with a staring problem then?" Lizzy teased.

William grimaced, "I'm sorry-"

"Why are you apologising?"

She watched as he looked at her a little confused, "It isn't the gentlemanly thing to do, staring at a young woman is it?" he asked quietly.

Lizzy raised an eyebrow, "From our first meeting, I would hardly say you were a gentleman." she replied.

"William chuckled slightly, "I'll never live that down will I?"

She shook her head, "You may have guessed that I like to tease people so as long as we are in each other's company, you'll get reminded of our introduction now and again."

"I don't usually converse easily with strangers."

"Maybe you should practice?" Lizzy suggested.

"I hardly need to practice now that we know each other. How is your placement going?"

"It ended last Friday but I start the new job in September."

"Have you figured out your plans yet as to your job at Fagin's?" William questioned.

Lizzy shook her head, taking a mouthful of her wine, "Charles is still interviewing people, he's hired one girl called Jade who starts next week. Paige is training her and then I have the close with her next Wednesday I believe. So for now, I'll continue my job there and then when Charles is more settled with his staff I'll cut my hours down to a few shifts instead of five a week." she explained.

"You really love it there don't you?"

She nodded, "I had been in Portsmouth for a few weeks, in desperate need of money; I didn't want to use the money that I got from my parents for my eighteenth when I kept getting rejected for the part time jobs until Charlotte said she saw the poster in the window. I thought I'd apply but with limited flexibility of my joints, I thought I'd get rejected again because employers want people who don't have a lot of medical problems. Charles interviewed me and I was honest with him upfront about my situation and he helped me out. I'll always be grateful to him for giving me the job." she said fondly.

"Do you have a disability?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound too nosy.

Lizzy shook her head again, "Not as such. Remember when I told you that I moved here to start afresh because something happened to me? It happened when I was seventeen and I spent weeks and weeks on end in recovery with a lot of therapy. When I moved down here for university, I had recovered; only just mind you but there were still times that I'd get a lot of pain." she explained.

William nodded, wondering what had happened to her but he knew that if she was going to tell him about her past; she would do it in her own time. As she had told the tale of her getting the job working for Charles, he could see that whatever had happened to her still affected her in some way. But she was a remarkable person, the way she wanted to help make a child's life a little bit better and in the few conversations that they had together, she seemed quite positive in trying to get her life together and that only made him admire her more; that she kept on going and didn't give up.

Charlotte called her name from the garden when the ipod starting playing 'Gangnam Style' and Lizzy placed her wine glass on the countertop, grinning at William before leaving the kitchen, doing their own version of the dance outside.

ooOoo

William watched as Elizabeth and Charlotte did the moves to 'Gangnam Style', watching the two best friends laugh together as they danced which only made him smile. He didn't notice that the eldest Bennet had slipped into the kitchen and had caught him watching her sister.

"It's a lovely home you've got here." Jane complimented.

"Oh...thank you." he replied.

Jane smiled, "I see the way you look at her, you like her don't you?"

William blinked, "I-I.." he didn't know how to answer Jane's question but she was right, he did like Elizabeth. He liked her very much.

Jane stood next to him, both watching Lizzy and Charlotte dancing, "My sister is the most amazing girl I know and I'm not saying that just because she's my sister. Lizzy, she's been through a lot when it comes to relationships and although she can form friendships with men quite easily, finding herself wanting something more with a man can make her quite hesitant. Trust doesn't come so easily to her in that respect. So if you decide to pursue my sister, don't hurt her, she's been through enough pain." she warned.

"What do you mean?"

"It's not my place to tell you the details of her ordeal. If you want to ask her out then it's up to you but you have to be patient with her." Jane said quietly.

She turned to leave but he found himself calling her name, "Jane?"

"Yes William?"

"I would never hurt her intentionally." he promised.

Jane smiled, "From what your friend has told me, you seem like a nice guy. I can see that by the way you've taken on the responsibility of caring for a child that isn't your own. My sister needs someone who can understand her and what's she's been through. I've been watching you on and off throughout the night, you haven't taken your eyes from her since she got here and the warmth in your eyes says how much you like her. Just be patient, that's all I ask, if you do decide to ask her out one day." she said quietly.

Nothing more was said as Jane left the kitchen and returned to the group outside, leaving William stood in his kitchen with his heart beating faster in his chest as his eyes met Elizabeth's. She smiled at him and gestured for him to join the rest of the group which he happily did; wondering if it would be a smart move to ask her out one day. Not now, but soon. _Definitely soon_ he told himself.

* * *

 **A/N:** So I hope you lovely readers enjoyed this one, Darcy's admitted to himself that he likes Lizzy. Your thoughts would be much appreciated if you have the time to leave me a review? :)


	8. Chapter 8

_Morning, what are u doing today?_

Lizzy rubbed her eyes as she looked at the text message from Will, smiling to herself as she sat up a tiny bit. It was Tuesday, her day off. Jane had returned to Longbourn on Saturday as she was back to work on Monday morning. As far as she knew, Jane and Charles had swapped phone numbers and both had agreed to stay in touch, Maria and Matthew were going on an official first date after their closeness at William's barbecue last Thursday.

 _Just woken up, going for a run along seafront. After that I have no plans, why?_

Lizzy sat up in her bed, stretching as she picked up her phone and threw back the duvet, the light summer breeze blowing through the open balcony door that attached her bedroom to it. She went into her kitchen, pouring fresh water from the kettle and turning it on to boil to make herself a cup of tea. Her phone beeped again.

 _I want to take Leonard out for the day and he thinks you're cool and wants you to come with us if you like?_

She smiled again, since the barbecue she had been invited round on Sunday for Mrs Reynolds roast dinner and a Disney movie with William, Charles and Leonard and the two had built a castle out of the millions of Lego bricks that Leonard owned.

 _Sure, are you thinking the park on the common? Or if you want to venture out of central Portsmouth, there's a castle in Portchester that we could visit?_

The kettle boiled as she poured the water into her mug, dipping in the tea bag before discarding it into the bin and adding a little bit of milk. Two sugars and thoroughly stirred, she sat on the sofa two feet away and turned on the TV with the remote.

 _I've asked Leo, he wants the castle but I have no clue where it is. Fancy being our tour guide?_

She decided to settle on 'watching' BBC breakfast and took a sip of her tea.

 _I've been there before. Meet at my flat in about an hour, I'll go for my run later._

 _I don't want to intrude on your plans._

 _It's fine Will, I can go for a run later._

 _Okay, see u soon._

She placed her phone on the coffee table, finishing the rest of her tea before heading into the bedroom to change for the day. The sky outside was a horrible, cloudy grey which only told her that there was a high chance of rain at some point during the day; so she opted to wear skinny jeans, a grey, short sleeved t-shirt with some city skyline printed on to it and a hoodie. She brushed her hair and let her brown waves cascade around her faces and fall to her shoulders before applying a thin layer of eyeliner and mascara to her eyes. When she was finished dressing, she quickly tiedied the flat before there was a buzz on the intercom and she allowed William and his nephew into the building.

Knocking on the door, she opened it and allowed Leo to run into her flat, cuddling her around the waist which caused her to smile and embrace him in return. Will shut the door behind him, smiling in greeting as Leo released Lizzy from his cuddle.

"Nice house Lizzy!" Leo said enthusiastically.

"Thank you Leo, are you excited to see a castle?" Lizzy asked, pulling on her converses.

"Yeah, uncle Will says that it's a ruin but it still stands." Leonard replied.

"That's right, it's a very old castle."

"As old as uncle Will?"

Lizzy laughed, meeting Will's gaze.

"I think it's a bit older than your uncle Will." Lizzy replied with a smile.

"Uncle Will is very old Lizzy. This mornin' he was on the computer lookin' at something Grandad Reg sent him. Somethin' boring that old people look at." Leo informed, cheekily.

"Is that so? And was it boring for you William?" Lizzy asked, tying her shoelaces.

"Well it was hardly what Leonard would call fun. Quarterly statements on how my investments are doing." Will replied.

The three locked up the flat and left, starting the walk to Fratton train station. Lizzy paid for their tickets to Portchester train station and stood on the platform, waiting for their train to come.

"You didn't have to pay for the train tickets." William muttered.

"You paid for the swan boats a few weeks ago and I have an English Heritage membership so we'll be able to go into the keep for free. Would you like that Leo?"

The boy nodded, munching on a chocolate bar that Will had bought for him from the train station cafe. Lizzy couldn't help but smile as the train pulled into the station and they all climbed into a compartment, with Leo sitting on one side of the aisle next to the window as Lizzy and Will sat on the other side. The train pulled out of the station and began the journey to Portchester.

"He's a good kid, you've done well in raising him." Lizzy complimented to Will quietly.

"I take no credit, he's his mother's son." William said fondly.

"What was she like?"

"Lucy? she was naive, she was kind. She once found an injured bird in the woods surrounding our home and refused to leave it to die. Lucy was thirteen and nursed it back to health, that's how much kindness she had; helping others. Her whole life was ahead of her, she wanted to work with disabled children." William replied.

"What happened to her?"

"When she was fifteen she started to date a boy the same age as me. My father disapproved as did I but Frank, my adoptive brother, said that we had to get to know this guy. She dated him for a while and then she started to get into trouble, she left boarding school without permission so my father brought her home to be taught by a private tutor as punishment. Of course, the boyfriend moved to nearest village near our estate and she continued to see him. Lucy turned sixteen and slept with this guy for the first time." William whispered.

"And she fell pregnant." Lizzy finished.

William nodded, "I was so angry with her. I thought she knew better than that but she refused to have a termination and we're all glad that she did, we all love Leonard. He might not be my blood nephew but Lucy was always like my sister, even before the adoption. She avoided me when I was home from university during the beginning of her pregnancy, she thought she had disappointed me. But then she showed me the scan and told me she was having a boy, I was happy. She started to do a long distance course from home when Leo was first born and my father got her a job working in the local nursery in the village."

ooOoo

The train stopped at Cosham train station and he turned to glance at Leonard, who was still sitting in his seat; not paying any attention to the conversation between the adults as he stared out of the window.

"How did she die?" Lizzy whispered.

"Car accident, she was pronounced dead at the scene. She was eighteen years old." William replied softly.

Her hand reached out to his, squeezing it gently as he looked at her. Lizzy's eyes were closed, he hadn't expected her to react this way to the story of how his sister had died. A tear leaked from her eye which he wiped away with his finger. Her eyes opened, a pair of watery hazel looked at him sadly.

"I'm sorry." she mumbled.

He smiled at her slightly, "It's okay Elizabeth, you don't need to apologise." William assured her.

Elizabeth nodded, sniffing slightly, "What about Leo's father?" she asked curiously.

"He's seen Leonard twice in his life. When Lucy told him that she was having their baby, he disappeared. He showed up in the hospital after she had given birth and then again on his first birthday. I don't know what happened on the night that Lucy was killed but as far as I know, he showed up at Pemberley wanting to talk to her and they went out in his car. My family haven't seen or heard from him since." he replied.

They were silent for the rest of the journey until the announcement was made that the next train station was Portchester. The three of them rose from their seats, stepping off the train when it pulled to a stop in the station. William and Leonard followed Elizabeth through Portchester, down a long street until the very end of it; they stood in front of Portchester castle. The castle's keep stood in good condition, with people waving at them from the very top as they looked up. The walls were falling apart as they walked under the main gate, turning left to cross a bridge over the moat. Elizabeth went through her bag, pulling out her purse and showing the ticketmaster her English Heritage membership card and the three of them entered, starting to look around the ruins of the royal apartments built by Richard II.

ooOoo

Leonard seemed fascinated, pointing out where the floors would have been if the royal apartments had remained intact. Lizzy laughed as Leonard rushed into the keep with her and William following behind on the winding staircase. They finally reached the top, with Lizzy and Will catching their breath as Leonard ran to one of the sides; looking out at the view around them.

"We're so high!" Leonard said excitedly.

"Do you like it Leo?" Lizzy asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Lizzy it's so cool!"

She and William chuckled lightly as they looked out on the view of Portsdown hill and of the marina in Port Solent where she pointed out Spinnaker Tower standing at the very mouth of the city as they watched several cruise ships sail into the docks. The wind swept through her hair lightly as she looked out over the top of the tower. Suddenly, she felt goosebumps form on the back of her neck as she felt a hand run softly through her hair. Lizzy looked up at William warmly, smiling when he retracted his hand from her hair to show that she had a strand of twig in her hair.

"Is your hair naturally wavy?" William asked her, a tone of curiosity in his voice.

Lizzy nodded, "Yes." she confirmed.

"I like it." Darcy admitted.

Lizzy felt herself blush slightly but she remained in eye contact with him until they were interrupted by Leonard tugging on her hoodie.

ooOoo

"What's the matter Leo?" William asked his nephew.

"Uncle Will, I'm hungry!" Leo complained.

He turned to Lizzy, "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"I want to spend the whole day with Lizzy!"

He heard that wonderful laugh escape her lips, "Leo, if you're uncle will have me, I'd love to spend the entire day with you both." she said fondly.

She had no idea what her words did to him. Not just the physical attraction he felt to her but the connection he felt to her emotionally, it was almost as if she wanted to spend as much time with them as possible; just like the way he felt about her. In truth, he had mentioned Lizzy's name at breakfast that morning and Leonard had asked if Lizzy could come out with them sometime that he couldn't resist in texting her to ask if she wanted to come out with them both.

"I'd love to spend the entire day with you." William breathed.

 _Great William, you sound like a lovesick teenaged boy!_

Lizzy smiled warmly, "Would you like to come back to my flat? I could make us some lunch and I have a few Disney films that Leo might like to watch." she suggested.

"That sounds lovely, only if you're sure?"

She nodded and the three of them left the castle, walking back to the train station and boarded a train headed to Fratton train station. Once again, Leonard sat on his own as the two adults sat on the other side of the aisle on their way back to Fratton. William asked her how she came to have a membership card for English Heritage; most twenty-one year olds wouldn't have one. To which she replied that she loved history, had always loved historical sites and castles since she was girl and used it quite often when she found herself having some free time and decided to visit one of the sites that the English Heritage cared for.

They got off the train and walked back to Lizzy's flat where she made them all some sandwiches; ham for Leonard and William and cheese and pickle for her. Leonard picked out her copy of The Lion King where Lizzy placed it into the DVD player before sitting back and eating their lunch. Leonard's eyes were fixed the entire time; barely registering the small conversations that the adults engaged in. William's eyes fell to a picture on the bookcase of five girls; they had to be Lizzy's sisters.

"Your sisters?" William asked, gesturing to the photo.

Lizzy nodded, reaching over to the bookcase and picking up the photo frame.

"It was taken on my twenty-first. I went home for the weekend and my parents threw me a party. You've met Jane, the only blonde haired sibling I have..."

He watched as she pointed out Mary; a dark brunette like Lizzy except with straight hair and glasses that gave her quite a bookish look. It didn't surprise him when she told him that Mary was in her first year studying a music degree at Royal Holloway, University of London. Then there was Catherine aka Kitty who was in sixth form at the local high school and then there was Lydia, the one in high school who she said was their mother's favourite and the most spoiled. On studying the picture a little closer he noted that out of all the Bennet girls, Lizzy was the only one with hazel eyes.

"You're the odd one out," he teased, "The hazel eyed sister."

ooOoo

Lizzy smiled, "In regards to our looks, Jane takes after our mother completely with blonde hair and blue eyes. The rest of us inherit our darker locks from our father but I'm the only one who has our father's eyes." she replied.

"Are you and your father close?"

"Yes we are but my parents aren't the typical type."

"What do you mean?"

"My mother worries that when my father dies we won't be able to take care of ourselves, she's quite old fashioned that we should be married with a man to take care of us like she had. My father doesn't really take the responsibilities of fatherhood seriously, of course he loves us but if my mother is quite critical he'll just brush it off as being in one of her funny moods. He doesn't really discipline properly, he'll punish one of us but then a few days later the punishment will be broken and everything will be back to normal." she explained.

William simply nodded and they both turned their attention back to the DVD at the moment that the stampede came on the screen; she didn't know why but it was always this moment in this film that made her teary eyed, perhaps it was because she knew that Mufasa was going to die at the end of it.

ooOoo

His head turned when he heard her sniff lightly, she had watery eyes which made him take hold of her hand and give it a light squeeze. Elizabeth looked up at him, smiling a watery smile as she squeezed his hand in return.

"Do you always get teary eyed when watching a film?" he whispered, shuffling a little closer to her; their hands still in each other's.

"Don't tease me. It's an emotional thing in the film, Simba loses his dad!" Lizzy replied softly.

"It's a cartoon!" he laughed.

Nothing more was said as Leonard chose at that moment to turn about and shush them before turning his attention to the hyena's chasing Simba out of the pridelands. The rest of the afternoon flew by with The Lion King finishing with Leonard singing 'Hakuna Matata' and William still sitting next to Elizabeth; holding her hand without realising neither of them had wanted to release their hold on the other.

"Lizzy, can we watch another one?" Leonard pleaded.

"It's up to your uncle Will." she replied.

Leonard met his gaze, "Please uncle Will?"

"One more if Elizabeth says it's okay but then we have to go home for dinner."

"It's fine with me."

"You don't have any work to do for university?"

Lizzy shook her head, "My dissertation is finished, I just need to get Charlotte to proof read it but we're meeting on Saturday afternoon to do that. In the meantime I'm relaxing." she replied.

Leonard smiled, looking through her collection of Disney films before settling on watching Aladdin. Elizabeth popped it into the DVD player and the three of them resumed their seats, watching the film together.

"So I've learned a new thing about you." he whispered.

She looked up at him eyebrow raised, "What's that?" she asked.

"You like Disney movies, are you a child at heart Miss Bennet?"

Elizabeth laughed, "You've learned my secret, I may have to kill you now." she joked.

"Will you go for a slow and torturous method or shall I expect a quick and painless exit from this world?" William laughed.

"That depends on how much further you tease me." Elizabeth replied, poking him in the ribs.

He jolted in surprise, looking at her and admiring that mischievous look in her eyes that had him hooked to her gaze. She really had no idea how that look made him feel or that smile that lighted up her eyes.

"Elizabeth?"

ooOoo

She continued to look at him, hoping that her heart rate would calm down soon otherwise it might break free from her chest her heart was beating so fast. Just being sat here with him, the way he squeezed her hand and the way they spoke to each other and the way he freely teased her now made her recognise that her sister had been correct; she liked him.

"Yes William?"

"There's something that I want to ask you."

"Go ahead."

William cleared his throat, both of them briefly looking at Leonard who was engrossed in Aladdin getting trapped inside the cave of wonders before the pair met each other's gaze again.

"I was wondering...if you'd like...to go out with me?"

Lizzy blinked, "We've been out." she replied.

"I mean just the two of us, out for dinner or drinks or something else if you'd like."

"Oh..."

"I'm sorry, perhaps I shouldn't have asked-"

"I'd love to." she blurted out.

It was his turn to blink and look at her in surprise which only made her smile affectionately at him. He was quite adorable and she knew that he wasn't even trying to be adorable at this moment in time.

"You would?" he asked.

She nodded, "I would." Elizabeth confirmed.

William smiled widely, "I was going to wait but I found myself unable to not ask you because the more time I spend with you, the more I find myself wanting to ask you out." he replied softly.

"When were you thinking?" she asked.

"Perhaps later this week? I know that you work tomorrow and Thursday evening so maybe Friday or Saturday?" William suggested.

"I'd like that, maybe you could text me tomorrow and we can discuss it further."

The film ended with Leonard and William putting their shoes back on and Leonard thanking Lizzy for a great day out to the castle, lunch and the two Disney films that they watched. Lizzy saw them both to the door, her eyes never leaving William's gaze and said goodbye to them both; looking forward to the discussion of their evening out the following day.

ooOoo

Charles sat in Darcy's kitchen on the laptop, trying to arrange a new schedule for Fagin's for the next month. Today he had finally hired another two people to work at the cafe along with his new recruit of Jade. He had promoted Paige to cafe manager to look after things when he had to return to Netherfield in August and the other businesses he owned seemed to be doing well it was only Fagin's that desperately needed his attention at the moment.

His phone buzzed and he picked it up, smiling when he saw a text from Jane pop up.

 _Evening, sorry didn't reply earlier. Meetings after school._

 _That's okay, how was school?_

He saved the spreadsheet and shut down the laptop, heading to the fridge to help himself to a can of coke.

 _Same old, class of 30 7yr olds is a challenge sometimes. Had a fight between 2 of the boys I teach which involved meeting with parents. How was your day?_

 _Spent most of my day interviewing people for the cafe. Hired now and they start training with Paige & Lizzy this week. Do u want to meet up at the end of the month? _

Taking a sip of the coke, he smiled when his phone buzzed again.

 _I could ask Lizzy if I could stay down for another weekend. Is this your way of asking for a date, Mr Bingley?_

He grinned, _If you'd go on one with me, Miss Bennet. Will Lizzy mind?_

 _I'd like that. I doubt she would, we said we'd see each other again before she comes home in August. Ring me tomorrow, we can discuss it then xo_

 _Will do, enjoy your evening. C xo_

There was a knock on the door and he wondered if Will had forgotten his keys, he guessed that his best friend would be returning home with Leonard for dinner but as he answered the door, he saw the last person he had expected to see. Stood in front of him was a woman, dark red hair with piercing blue eyes and wearing a bright purple sundress with matching shoes and headband.

"Caroline, what are you doing here?"

"Oh Charles, can one not come to visit their brother?"

"Not when you don't inform me or Darcy that you're coming." Charles snapped as Caroline pushed her way past him with her suitcase.

"It's only a short visit dear brother. What a _charming_ little house by the seaside, has Darcy had a blow to the head?" Caroline asked.

Charles rolled his eyes as he closed the front door and followed her into the living room where she had taken a seat on the sofa.

"Caroline, you can't just show up here. You're supposed to be at Netherfield with Louisa and Jonathan-"

"Relax Charles, being stressed doesn't suit you." Caroline tutted.

"I wonder why I'm stressed when my little sister shows up at a house that isn't even her brothers." he replied through gritted teeth.

The front door opened and they heard a pair of little feet running up the stairs and seconds later, Darcy appeared in his living room; looking surprised that Caroline was sitting on his sofa.

"Darcy, how wonderful to see you!" Caroline gushed, rising from her seat and walking over to him.

"Caroline." Darcy greeted stiffly, going rigid when Caroline kissed his cheek.

Mrs Reynolds announced that she was cooking them all a curry for dinner whilst Darcy said he'd head upstairs to tell Leonard. When Charles heard the footsteps of his best friend on the landing, he turned back to Caroline.

"You leave on Friday Caroline, I know what you're up to." Charles whispered.

"Charles, I promise you I'm not up to anything. I just wanted to visit." Caroline said sadly.

He felt himself softened, deciding to give his sister a chance but Caroline agreed to leave on Friday like he said; hoping that his sister was true to her promise that she was indeed not up to anything, he also hoped that Darcy could allow Caroline to stay.


	9. Chapter 9

On Wednesday afternoon, Lizzy clocked in for her close at two o'clock and started to get Jade trained up on more aspects of doing a shift at Fagin's. The girl was a little younger than her, with short black hair cut into a pixie style and the start of a tattoo beginning on her upper arm. So far, Jade was proving to be quite the chatterbox and slow at doing the job in hand. By seven o'clock, Lizzy normally would have started the closing preparation but Jade was struggling in clearing the dining area whilst she was serving customers. One customer, a man named Michael who worked for Colas came in for his tea-time coffee during the dinner time rush.

"Oh Lizzy, when are you going to make an honest man of me love?" Michael grinned, taking the cup and handing over the money.

Lizzy smiled, placing the money into the till and handing Michael his change.

"Michael, you're lovely. But it would never work out between us."

The man smiled and bid her goodnight and left the cafe just as Lizzy felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled the phone out of her pocket and smiled when she saw a text from William waiting for her reply on the screen.

 _So have you decided what you want to do yet? x  
_

 _Not yet, any thoughts? x_

 _Well Mrs R is watching Leonard for me so I could drive us somewhere if you want? x_

She froze as she put her phone back in her pocket. It wasn't the fact that he wanted to drive them somewhere, it was just that since her accident she had a fear of getting into a car with any man because of what happened to her. So she made herself busy, helping Jade to clear up the dining area whilst there were no customers to serve.

"Have you met the boss's fit friend? You know, tall, dark, really lovely brown eyes? He came in the other day with some kid, I think it was his nephew. Do you know if he's seeing anyone? Because if he isn't then I totally would!" Jade said hungrily.

The way that Jade ranted on reminded Lizzy of Lydia's behaviour, except the difference between the two was that Lydia was still an immature teenager. Lizzy felt a surge of jealousy at Jade's sudden interest in the man she was going on a date with. But was it right that she should feel jealous? She and Will weren't an item...yet anyway, they had only agreed to go on a date so she didn't know where things were going to go. Before she could reply to Jade's comment about William, another crowd of customers came into the cafe so she turned and went back to the counter, placing the plates and mugs into the dishwasher before turning back to the till.

ooOoo

It had been a few hours since he had last text her and he hadn't had a reply from Elizabeth. Had he done something wrong to offend her? Will thought he hadn't said anything to cause offence to Lizzy so here he was, sat in his living room with Caroline and Charles and mulling over what he might have done for her not to text him back. Charles picked up the phone to call Fagin's to check on how Jade was getting on. When his best friend got off the phone to Lizzy, he looked at Charles and asked, "Did she seem upset?"

Charles shook his head, "No, she seemed fine. Why what did you do?"

"Nothing...at least I think I didn't do anything. I text her to ask if she wanted me to drive us somewhere for our date-"

"You idiot! Please tell me you didn't?" Charles asked.

Will nodded and frowned, "Why? What's so wrong about that?"

"Lizzy has a fear of cars due to something that happened to her."

Will scratched his head, "What happened to her?" he asked.

Charles shook his head, "It's not my place to tell you. It's up to Lizzy to tell you if and when she's ready to share that information." he replied.

"Honestly Darcy," Caroline interjected, "If this girl is afraid of cars and refuses to reply to your messages, perhaps you've had a lucky escape."

William looked at his best friend's sister, who had been sprawled across the sofa reading a book and glared at her. Ever since her arrival at his house she had been trying to interfere in his life by persuading him to move back to Pemberley because it was best for everyone. He wasn't going to let Caroline dictate what he could and couldn't do with his life, let alone accept her opinion on his date with Elizabeth.

"I think you should keep your unwanted opinions to yourself, Caroline." William said stiffly.

"Oh my-"

"Caroline." Charles warned.

The two siblings shared a look between them as William exited the room and asked Mrs Reynolds to keep and eye on Leonard because he had to go out for a little while. He picked up his keys and shut the door behind him as he started the walk to Commercial Road, knowing that he had to see her, to apologise for his error and to see if she would still want to go on a date with him.

ooOoo

By half past eight that night, the dishwasher was doing it's final cycle of cleaning the dishes, the floor had been mopped and the two girls had switched off the lights as Lizzy locked up the doors. Lizzy could only hope that over a period of time that Jade would improve after a bit of training, the girl was quite slow and the shift had resulted in Lizzy doing the majority of the work that should have been spread between them. The two girls started to walk up the high street, looking in at various shop windows where staff were laying out new displays or cleaning the store that they worked in when Jade stopped in her tracks and pulled on Lizzy's arm. They weren't too far from the fountain when Jade's jaw dropped.

"Oh my, the boss's hot best friend is walking this way!" Jade squealed.

Lizzy turned her attention to see that William was, indeed, walking towards the two of them. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she met the soft gaze coming from his eyes and returned his small smile. When he reached them, he greeted Jade before turning to Lizzy.

"Can we talk?" William asked.

"Of course, Jade I'll see you later." Lizzy said.

Jade grumbled a goodbye and headed off past Debenhams as Lizzy and Will held hands and started their walk towards Guildhall Walk.

"I'm surprised to see you." Lizzy admitted.

"I wanted to see if you were okay, you didn't text me back." Will said.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Lizzy mumbled.

"Charles said that you had been through an ordeal-"

Lizzy stopped and looked up at him, "What else did he tell you?" she asked.

"Just that you had been through an ordeal, he said it wasn't his place to tell me what you had been through." William replied.

Lizzy sighed heavily as the two walked back to her flat. She knew that he had to know what had happened to her because she needed to explain why she was freaked out about his offer to drive them somewhere for a date. Once they were back at her flat and she had let them in, Lizzy went into the fridge and got out the bottle of wine that she was saving for when Charlotte was coming over on Saturday and poured them both a glass. William took a seat on her sofa and thanked her for the drink when he took his glass from her.

Taking a large mouthful of wine she looked at him, "There's something that I want to tell you about my past and it's better if you know about it now so that if you decide that I'm too much to handle, you can walk away now and there will be no hard feelings." she said.

He looked confused but nodded, looking at her intently.

"When I was seventeen I had been dating this guy for a few months. He was charming, he was caring and most importantly he made me fall in love with him. This guy had been the first person I had serious feelings for and I wanted to take it slowly. I was naive to think he truly cared about me. He took me on dates that were local to my home until one night, two months before I turned eighteen, he requested to my dad that he take me to a concert in Brighton where my favourite band was playing."

William nodded, taking a mouthful of wine.

"He had rented a car, the seatbelts were frayed and it looked in poor condition but I got in and we started driving. Until we were about an hour away from home and the car started to jolt a bit. I asked George to see the rental agreement for the car but then things turned nasty. He admitted that he had stolen the car in order to impress me and had booked us a hotel room for the night because I owed it to him to sleep with him-"

"He said what?!" William burst out angrily.

Lizzy nodded, "We argued and when I asked him to pull over he refused. We were about ninety minutes away from home when I got my phone out to call my dad and ask him to come and get me. George got angry, he snatched the phone away from me and crashed the car into a tree. Due to the seatbelts not being in good condition, I was badly injured. George on the other hand got out of the crash with minor cuts and bruises. He left me in that ditch and I was found by a stranger." she explained.

"You told me that you nearly died from a incident, is this what happened?" he asked.

She nodded again, "I was comatose for three weeks due to swelling on my brain. I suffered a slipped disc in my back which required weeks and weeks of therapy. I also had broken some ribs, an arm and a leg. I was kept on life support until my father told them to try and let me breathe on my own. So now you know why I freaked out and didn't reply to your text. I have a fear of cars. Any journey over thirty minutes, I suffer from a panic attack and fear that it will happen again. It wasn't you, I promise you, it's nothing against you. It's the same with all men, even the men I've known and trusted for years and have the closest friendships with; I won't get into a car with them." she replied.

There was a moment of silence as the two of them took a few more mouthfuls of their wine until she looked at him and placed her nearly empty glass on the table.

"If you want to leave and forget about going on a date with me, it's fine. I promise that there won't be any hard feelings between us if I'm too much to handle." Lizzy said.

ooOoo

"I'm not leaving." he said quickly, placing his own glass next to her own.

She looked at him in surprise, "Y-You're not?" she asked.

"I'm not." William repeated with a smile, shifting closer to her.

"But, I'm a mess!" Lizzy stated.

"I don't care. I can't explain it Elizabeth but I'm drawn to you and I want to explore my connection to you, my attraction to you. We all have a past and it isn't your fault. That man left you to die when he was supposed to be looking after you. I'm not leaving because you've had a bad experience." William replied.

Before she could reply, he captured her lips in a hungry kiss; cupping her face with one hand as the other pulled her into his lap to hold her as close as he could to him. He hadn't meant to kiss her, he had wanted to wait until their first date and give her a goodnight kiss on said date but now seemed like a good time to share their first kiss, she needed assurance that he wasn't going to run from her just because of her accident and past experience with a pathetic excuse for a man who should have called for help instead of leaving her there to die. Lizzy ran her hands through his curly hair, gripping his head lightly as his tongue probed into her mouth that only made her heart hammer away faster in her chest that she thought it was going to burst through her body.

When he pulled away to gasp for breath, he rested his forehead against hers. Lizzy opened her eyes and caught him gazing at her, she beamed at him in happiness which made caress her cheek lightly.

"It's getting late and Mrs R is watching Leonard for me. Are we still on for a date?" he asked.

"I'd love that more than anything." Lizzy whispered.

"Friday or Saturday?"

Lizzy hesitated, "Friday would be better for me although I have the open on Saturday. Charlotte is coming over on Saturday afternoon to look through my dissertation for me and I promised her a girly afternoon; it might not feel like one if I'm rushing through spending time with her if I have a date with you in the evening." she replied.

"Friday it is, six o'clock okay? Where do you want to go? I could take you out for dinner at a restaurant-"

"How about doing something a little bit different?" Lizzy asked.

He raised an eyebrow, "How different are we talking here?"

"The viewpoint on top of Portsdown Hill gives great views of the city, there's also burger vans there where we can grab something to eat. We could get the train from Fratton to Cosham and walk up the hill." Lizzy suggested.

"Will I get food poisoning if I eat from a burger van?" Will teased.

Lizzy swatted him playfully on the arm, "I've been there a few times with Matthew and Charlotte and I've yet to get a bout of food poisoning." she replied.

"A little out of my comfort zone but I'm willing to try something new."

"You don't mind?"

Will shook his head, "It doesn't matter where we go, as long as I get to be with you." he whispered.

With one last kiss, Will saw himself out and walked home. Lizzy cleared away the glasses and the wine and went to bed, smiling that she may have finally met someone who was decent enough not to mess her about like George had done in the past.

ooOoo

Caroline sat on the sofa, trying to get herself interested in the book she had been 'reading' for the majority of the evening. Darcy had been gone for hours and everybody else had gone to bed. Only she remained awake, determined to wait for Darcy to return to his little house on the seaside. Really? he had chosen Portsmouth of all places as the city to settle in and give his nephew a 'normal' life. What that five year old needed was a tutor or a one way ticket to a boarding school where generations of the Darcy children had been educated. Or still, Leonard wasn't even Darcy's biological nephew, dump the brat on Frank Fitzwilliam and get back to living a life a twenty-four year old should be living; parties, social events in London, meeting someone to settle down with a start a family.

Why couldn't Darcy see that she would be perfect for him? She had waited for him for years, the sister of his best friend; they would be perfect together. But Darcy was a stiff board ever since his last relationship had gone overboard. She would have been there for him when that girlfriend had gotten rid but Darcy poured all of his focus into that brat that Lucy Fitzwilliam had left behind with nobody to care for it.

The front door opened and she heard Darcy walked in, chuck his keys on the window sill and head straight upstairs without even poking his head around the door. He had been to see that _Eliza_ girl who worked for Charles, what was so special about her?

Stretching her arms out wide and releasing a yawn, Caroline folded the book and placed it on the coffee table. She rose, switched off the lamp and headed up the stairs to the guest room where she was supposed to be sleeping. Giving a last glance at Darcy's bedroom door, she looked at it with a yearning look and slipped into the guest room quietly. What she would give to share a bed with Darcy, even if it was just for one night.

ooOoo

Wednesday night in the Bennet household consisted of Kitty going to bed at ten o'clock and Mrs Bennet retiring earlier than that because she had been feeling ill with the shakes. Mr Bennet was in his library still going over the estate accounts whilst Lydia was in her bedroom, the covers tucked up to her chin and the only source of light coming from her phone. She was no longer grounded but to some extent her father was still suspicious about her so she had a lot of early nights and a lot of her father checking her room before he turned in for the night.

 _What you wearing, my little Lydia? x_

 _A red, lace nightgown x_

 _Picture? ;) x_

 _George Wickham! I'll show u mine if u show me urs ;) x_

Two seconds later, her phone vibrated. Lydia grinned as she opened the multimedia message from George and saw a picture of him, his chest bared, one eye winking at her. Her eyes travelled down to the pair of black boxers that revealed his package to be quite big. She felt like drooling over the picture, he had _everything_ that she had ever fantasised about. Quickly sitting up, she switched on her bedside lamp and kicked back the duvet, quickly snapping a photo of her in her nightgown and texting it to George.

 _God ur beautiful my LL x_

 _Ty ;) not so bad yourself x_

 _Meet me 2morro? x_

 _Sure :) 3.15 outside skl x_

 _Night my LL x_

 _Night Gorgeous x_

Lydia switched off the lamp as she heard footsteps outside her bedroom door, scrambling to get the duvet back up to her chin and shut her eyes just as her bedroom door opened and her father appeared in the doorway. Since she had been granted her freedom once again, he checked to make sure that she was in bed sound asleep each night, it only lasted a second or two but he shut the door and carried on walking to his bedroom. Lydia tossed and turned on to one side, thinking of nothing more than the man who slept in the army barracks on the other side of Meryton.

ooOoo

Elizabeth woke up the next morning to the sound of her phone beeping. Rolling over and rubbing her eyes, she kicked back the covers and unplugged the charger from her phone and walked into her kitchen, boiling the kettle to make herself the first cup of tea of the day.

 _Morning beautiful, sleep well? xo_

 _Not too badly, u? xo_

 _Pretty good :) What are your plans? x_

The kettle boiled and Lizzy went about making herself a cup of tea before sitting on the sofa and switching on the TV to watching BBC Breakfast. She didn't really pay attention to what the newsreader was going on about, it was the same as usual; budget cuts, NHS in crisis and something about the education of the UK's children population.

 _Going for a run in about half hour after my shower x_

 _Come by for a coffee when your done? xx_

Lizzy smiled, she thought it was sweet how he wanted to see her even before their first date was due to happen. It was still one day to go until she planned on taking him to the viewpoint.

 _Sure, love 2 :) x_

 _See you soon :) W x_

ooOoo

They all sat out on the patio in Darcy's new garden furniture, Caroline still in her plum nightdress and matching robe, Leonard in his pyjamas whilst Darcy wore a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Charles was dressed nearly the same as Darcy except he wore a shirt because he was interviewing some more people for his precious cafe. Mrs Reynolds was making them all breakfast; fry-ups, toast, warmed croissants and freshly made coffee from the machine. She didn't know what was worse, the way that Darcy treated the housekeeper like family or the five year old nearly six year old who had orange juice dribbling from his mouth and down his chin. It was utterly revolting.

As Charles opened the local newspaper, the doorbell rang. Everyone looked back into the kitchen and Caroline offered to go and answer the door; anything to step out of the sight of Leonard being unable to keep anything in his mouth! Ugh! the thought alone made her shiver in disgust. When she opened the front door, her eyes widened. In front of her stood a woman, wavy brown hair tied up into a ponytail. Hazel eyes bright from exercise, the woman wore black running trousers, a baggy black t-shirt and black running shoes. A bead of sweat slipped down the woman's forehead and Caroline silently thought that the sight of a child having orange juice dripping down his chin was a much prettier sight compared to this woman.

"I'm sorry, we're not interested in buying anything." Caroline tutted, trying to close the door.

The woman placed her foot in the doorway, with eyebrows raised.

"Actually, I'm not selling anything. Will invited me over." the woman replied.

 _Will is it now?_ This woman seemed to be on a intimate first name basis with Darcy. Wait...this surely couldn't be the woman that Darcy and her brother had been talking about yesterday? This was Eliza Bennet? A sweaty brunette who worked at her brother's cafe, Darcy had to be having a mental breakdown surely if this was the type of woman he was interested in dating.

Before Caroline could reply, Darcy came to the front door and invited the woman inside. She followed the two of them into the garden where Darcy was holding out a seat for the sweaty girl whilst Mrs Reynolds was pouring the girl a coffee. Scowling, Caroline sat back down in her seat and clicked her fingers at Mrs Reynolds before holding up her mug.

"So Eliza, you work for my brother Charles don't you?" Caroline asked.

The woman smiled, "I do." she confirmed.

"And now you're dating Darcy? My, do you like rich men?"

The woman simply smiled, "William's money is his business, it doesn't phase me. As for the 'dating' part, we're going on a date tomorrow if that's what you are referring to." Eliza replied.

Caroline felt a surge of hatred towards this woman. Just the way Darcy was looking at her made her want to vomit or throw her coffee somewhere. No, she had to do something about that. She had to make Darcy come to his senses and she hoped that the next twenty-four hours were enough to do just that.

ooOoo

They stood on the driveway after eating warmed croissants and drinking nice coffee, William had made sure to shut the front door so that they weren't overheard. The breakfast and coffee with William and Charles's sister had been awkward. Lizzy didn't know what the woman's problem was but it was clear that Caroline Bingley didn't like her and she had a feeling it was to do with William. Perhaps Charles's little sister had a thing for William Darcy? Well, if the woman did then she wasn't the only one.

"Are you sure you can't stay longer?" Will asked her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Lizzy laughed, placing her hands on his chest, "I have to work, luckily it's with Paige tonight and not Jade." she replied.

"Is she that bad?"

"She's okay, just really slow!" Lizzy complained.

"I'm sure she'll get the hang of it." William chuckled.

Lizzy smiled, "She has a thing for you." she muttered.

William raised an eyebrow, "It's a good thing I only have an interest in a brunette who is currently wrapped in my arms and accepting my kiss." he whispered.

She didn't get a chance to reply, his lips pecked at hers lightly before pulling away and looking down at her so warmly.

"Do you want me to meet you from work tonight?" he asked.

She shook her head but smiled, "You'll see me tomorrow evening." she replied.

He pouted, "I can't get enough of you." William admitted.

"How about a compromise? Instead of meeting me, you can call me when I get home." Lizzy suggested.

Smiling, he said, "That's a deal I can make."

Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him before walking down the driveway. She felt like giddy schoolgirl as she looked back and saw that he was watching her walk away and when she turned the corner so that she was out of his sight, he was texting her. It was amazing at how she felt after so short a time. Was it a mistake to feel this excited and fluttery? She didn't know and right now she didn't care.

Once she was home she quickly showered and got her work uniform on before quickly calling her father. She was graduating soon and she needed to know how many of her family were coming to the ceremony in order to reserve some tickets.

"Hello Lizzy my dear." Mr Bennet greeted warmly.

Holding the phone to one ear, she brushed through her wet hair, "Hello Dad, how are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine love, how are you?"

"Not too bad, same old. Listen I need to put in reservations for tickets for my graduation ceremony, how many of you are coming?"

A pause.

"Only myself dear unless you want your mother to come but we won't be able to stay too late as Lydia will be home from school for four o'clock." Mr Bennet replied.

Lizzy sighed happily, "Actually, I'd prefer it if only you came. Mum will find something to criticise or make some statement about." she said.

"You know what your mother's like." Mr Bennet said weakly.

"Mhhmmm. Dad...there's something I need to talk to you about."

Another pause.

"Lizzy, I love you dear but please don't tell me you're pregnant."

She laughed, "No dad I'm not. Jane told me what you nearly did to Wickham when you first saw him."

A third pause.

"Lizzy understand it from a father's point of view. He shows up like nothing happened and starts saying things about you-"

"I understand perfectly Dad, I really do. But promise me you won't do anything stupid, I don't want you to get arrested for beating a man who has already been punished for his crime." Lizzy implored.

"Hardly punished-"

"He was Dad regardless of whether or not we agree with the judge's decision. Promise me."

A sigh, "Fine, Elizabeth I promise you."

"Thank you."

"Take care my love, call me at the weekend or whenever you're free to talk more."

"Bye Dad."

Hanging up the phone, she tied her hair up into a bun and left the house, deciding to grab a light lunch from Greggs before starting her shift at Fagin's. The only thing that got her through a quiet close shift at Fagin's that Thursday afternoon was that she would soon be going on her first date with William.

ooOoo

Six o'clock on Friday evening came quite quickly. All day she had been riffling through her wardrobe trying to decide on what to wear, along with shoes, bags and hairstyles until Lizzy had finally opted for a green summer dress that brought out the green colour in her hazel eyes, a black clutch bag that contained her purse, keys and phone and a pair of black flats. Make-up was lightly applied and her wavy hair cascaded around her shoulders and back until finally, she heard the buzzer on the door go. Locking up the flat, she walked down to the lobby and met William, giving him a light kiss before making their way to Fratton train station.

The train ride to Cosham only took about ten minutes and in that ten minutes, they had both complimented each other on how they looked and spoken about how their days had gone; to which Lizzy admitted she had spent the majority of the day picking and choosing what to wear, with Will replying he rather liked her dark green dress that complimented her eyes. She blushed and the two got off the train and made their way up Cosham high street.

Once they were past the high street, the long walk up the hill began. Lizzy, who was used to walking, took the lead several times and had to stop and wait for William to catch up to her; it only made her giggle and smile when he tried to keep up with her.

"This is your ideal first date; knackering me out." William panted.

Lizzy laughed, "You don't like exercise Mr Darcy? What a shame, how unfit you are." she teased.

"I'll have you know that hillwalking isn't my activity and there are other ways to keep fit." William replied.

They finally made it to the viewpoint, a large car park and a mass of green and freshly cut grass where wooden picnic tables were placed here and there. Many burger vans sat at the top of the car park where Lizzy and William ordered their burgers from Mick's Monster Burgers and sat on a patch of grass, with Lizzy pointing out various places in the city which Will could only just make out. As they ate their burgers, they spoke about their families, what William did and what Lizzy liked to do in her free time.

"Tell me a secret." William requested, as they ate their burgers.

Lizzy raised an eyebrow, "Will Darcy wants a secret?" she asked.

He nodded, "Tell me something nobody knows about you." he requested.

"You realise that Jane knows everything about me?"

William rolled his eyes, "Fine. Tell me something that nobody else apart from Jane knows about you. It can be anything, oh I don't know...why do you want to be a support worker?" he asked.

Lizzy finished her burger, crumbling the paper in her hand as she swallowed.

"It's because of George in a way. He was messed up, moved around from foster home to foster home, from foster carer to foster carer and I wanted to make his life better. When it became apparent that I wouldn't get anywhere with him, I decided to be a support worker and help a child who it wasn't too late for. I was too late for George, but for a child who still has a long road ahead of them, perhaps I can help make their life a little better." Lizzy explained.

"That's really...admirable." William smiled.

She returned his smile and took their rubbish to the bin before she sat back down next to him.

"Your turn." she stated.

He grinned, "What would Miss Bennet like to know?"

Pursing her lips together, she thought of one thing that she had wanted to know since she had the conversation with Mrs Reynolds.

"Is your name really Fitzwilliam?" she asked.

Rolling his eyes again, he nodded.

"When I was born, my parents couldn't think of a name for me for the first two weeks of life. My parents argued, one like one name and the other didn't. My Aunt Catherine made a joke that they should just call me 'Fitzwilliam' which is my mother's maiden name to tie the two families together, as you can tell as Leonard's surname is Fitzwilliam, and it sort of stuck." he explained.

Lizzy laughed, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"You think it's funny do you? The ordeal I had to live with?" William asked.

"No, I'm sorry," Lizzy said, before cracking up in laughter again, "Fitzwilliam."

She rose to her feet, running away from him and laughing as he ran after her; he tripped slightly as he forget that he was running downhill. When he finally caught her with his arms catching her around the middle, he lifted her from the ground and spun her around. Turning her in his arms when she was back on the ground, he crushed his lips to hers; kissing her with such passion that nothing else mattered except for her. The weight of her in his arms, her soft lips moving against his. Lizzy moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck and shifted closer to him, standing on her tiptoes as she allowed his tongue entrance into his mouth. For several moments, their tongues caressed the other's and there was nobody else in the world except for the two of them...that was until they were interrupted by the sound of wolf whistling coming from a group of teenage boys by the burger vans.

The pulled apart with Lizzy looking up at him, "I think we have an audience." she muttered.

William grinned, "I think they're jealous they aren't the ones kissing a beautiful woman." he whispered.

Lizzy blushed, checking the time on her phone to see they had been at the viewpoint for nearly two hours.

"What do you want to do now?" Lizzy asked.

"I would invite you back to mine but I have a nephew, a housekeeper, a best friend and his annoying sister staying with me." William sighed.

Lizzy smiled, "I suppose it's a good thing that I have no nephews, housekeepers, best friends or their annoying sisters at my place." she replied.

"Back to yours it is then." Will grinned.

Before of them knew it they were back on the train from Cosham station to Fratton station and walking hand in hand back to Lizzy's house. Once inside, they shared yet another bottle of wine and talked more about Lizzy's future job prospects once she graduated from university. She told him more about Jacob and her job as a part-time support worker who would work with Jacob in the mornings until lunch time and that she would probably be keeping her job at Fagin's depending on how well she was paid as a support worker. Will replied that it must be quite rewarding working with children to which she pointed out that taking on a child who wasn't your own was the most kind of rewarding role there was.

She ended up in his lap again, wine forgotten on the table as they kissed. Lizzy knew that she could go on kissing him forever, he was passionate yet tender and gentle when he kissed her the way he did, it made her feel safe in his arms and she hadn't felt that before. Of course, she had kissed Oliver after the whole George fiasco but it was nothing compared to this feeling.

Suddenly they were interrupted by the sound of Will's phone ringing. Groaning, he pulled away from her and got his phone out of his pocket, seeing he had missed a call from Frank.

"I need to get home and you need to get to bed." Will said with a pout.

"Earlies are a menace sometimes." she teased.

"Can we do this again? A date I mean?" William asked.

"I'd like that. How about Tuesday, I have the close on Wednesday so we can stay out a little later?" she suggested.

"Tuesday it is." he agreed.

There was a pause and she asked him what was on his mind.

"You don't think this is pathetic? That I'm a sap because I want to see more of you as much as I can?"

She shook her head, "I think it's sweet, it doesn't make you a sap in my book." Lizzy assured him.

They rose from the sofa, walking to her front door and lingering in the doorway. Giving her one, last parting kiss, he left the building. Lizzy sighed happily as she readied herself for bed, climbing under the duvet and putting her phone on charge when her phone buzzed:

 _Miss you already, W x_


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** As always, thank you to those of you who have reviewed so far. Just a word of warning, there is content in this chapter that may be deemed unsuitable as a T rating so as of today, this story will be rated M so usual warnings apply: Please don't read unless the legal age and just a word of warning, if I'm crap at writing detailed sexual encounters so if I do decide to show those type of moments in a chapter, the detail will be kept to a minimum that I'm comfortable with writing and another word of warning, the encounter in this chapter is between Wickham & Lydia with some heated moments between E&D.

Just for future reference, I'm updating this story every monday but where I don't attend a normal university as I'm a part-time student and mostly do so from home, I have my examination coming up in the middle of September. You will get updates for this story on 31st August & 7th September but none on the 14th because that week I'm busy revising, however if the chapter is finished in time, I may update on the Friday beforehand.

As always, enjoy this chapter and please review :)

* * *

"It's revolting, the way he was looking at her," Caroline complained, pretending to vomit into her dinner, "Louisa, he's like a lovesick teenager, over this woman he barely knows!"

Caroline and Louisa were sat in the dining room at Netherfield on Saturday night with Caroline complaining to her older sister about her visit to Portsmouth. She had tried and failed to get Darcy to see sense about his reckless decisions.

"Oh my dear, perhaps Darcy needs professional help. Is this girl really a nobody?" Louisa asked, grimacing at what the answer would be.

Caroline nodded, cutting a piece of her roast beef, "She's a _student_ and a _waitress_ that works for our brother. Her parents are probably on the dole, I mean she's going to university in _Portsmouth_ of all places, only somebody who couldn't afford the fees for some of the top universities in the country would consider attending there." she replied, a tone of disgust present in her voice.

"Well whatever is going on, Darcy hasn't been right for a while. I suppose losing an adoptive sister will do that to you." Louisa mused.

"Oh we can hardly forget about Lucy Fitzwilliam! Poor, stupid girl. Driving that car and crashing into a tree when she couldn't even drive! Thank the lord she wasn't Darcy's biological sister but I do fear that the boy will turn out like her with her reckless behaviour and the father is a nobody." Caroline replied.

"I still can't believe Darcy's choice of schooling for Leonard, I always say that the rich families should send their children to the best private schools this country has to offer!" Louisa added.

"According to Charles, he and Darcy are returning to Netherfield in August for a visit so I'll have the opportunity to convince Darcy then that we would be a good match. Until then I can only hope that his infatuation with this sweaty brunette ceases before then." Caroline sneered.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed for you little sister." Louisa said with a smile.

The two sisters laughed and raised their wine glasses, toasting to a hopeful future where, one day, Caroline Bingley would become Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley, Derbyshire.

ooOoo

"Well, your dissertation looks good to go. You can submit first thing on Monday." Charlotte said positively, handing Lizzy back her laptop.

"Thank you for going over it for me. Can you believe that it's almost over? We'll be starting a whole new chapter of our lives."

Charlotte smiled awkwardly, taking a mouthful of wine from her glass. Lizzy looked at her best friend suspiciously, ever since Charlotte had met her from work at two-thirty it was almost as if her best friend had been holding something back.

"Okay Char, spit it out." Lizzy demanded with a smile, taking a drink from her own glass.

"Spit what out?" Charlotte asked.

"Whatever it is that you need to tell me." Lizzy replied.

There was an awkward pause before Charlotte exhaled heavily and placed her wine glass on the coffee table.

"What you said about new chapters, you're right. I'm starting one of my own and I've been debating on how to tell you for a while now." Charlotte said.

"Go on." Lizzy urged.

Charlotte bit her lip, "Bill's asked me to marry him." she blurted out.

Lizzy blinked, "Bill asked you to marry him?" she asked.

Charlotte nodded, "A month ago and I said yes. He hasn't bought me a ring yet and we've decided that we want to get married as soon as I've graduated. The family he serves, the De Bourgh's, they're quite old fashioned. We need to get married quickly and give the De Bourgh's the impression that we've been 'waiting' until we were married."

She could have almost laughed but she had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from doing so. Her cousin wasn't the brightest tool in the box and he was very passionate about religion, she had always thought that Bill and Charlotte were an odd match since they started dating a year ago. In fact, she had been the one to introduce the two of them the previous summer when Charlotte had come to stay with her at Longbourn and Bill happened to be staying there at the same time.

"Charlotte, you're hardly a virgin. You and Bill have had sex, you told me you have." Lizzy pointed out.

"But the De Bourgh's don't know that. Besides, if they quiz me on my past sex life, I'll tell them it's none of their business."

"I get the impression that they will and won't take too kindly if you did tell them it's none of their business."

"Oh Lizzy, it hardly matters to me but it's important to Bill. I respect his beliefs and wishes enough for this." Charlotte replied.

"Does Bill know everything about your past?" Lizzy asked.

"Does William know everything about yours?" Charlotte shot back.

Again there was a pause, a tense one. Both girls took a large mouthful from their glasses, finishing off the last of the wine that had been in the glasses.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Charlotte apologised.

"It's fine, I've told him about the car accident with George and I told him that the relationship with Oliver was disastrous but he still has a lot to find out. I just figured in my own time." Lizzy muttered.

"Lizzy, I want you to be happy for me. You're my best friend and I want you to be one of the witnesses. The ceremony will be after the graduation ceremony, my mum and dad are coming down and Maria will be there. I've asked Matthew to be the second witness but it won't be the same without you." Charlotte pleaded.

"Do you think you could be happy? You're twenty-two and you'll be a qualified lawyer, do you really want to live in a vicarage on the Rosing's estate playing the little vicar's wife? Charlotte, do you realise what you'll be giving up? You live for Tiger Tiger Monday's and student nights down Guildhall on Thursdays. You won't be able to throw house parties when you move to Kent, you won't be able to crawl home at five in the morning and sleep in until noon and be hungover."

"I know what I'm giving up Lizzy and besides, I can always come and stay with you on a long weekend and still do the things that we do now. Of course I'm going to change because I'll be a wife but it won't change me completely."

"It's a new chapter, we don't always stay the same person we were in university." Lizzy pointed out.

"Look Lizzy, I appreciate your concern that you may be feeling for me presently. But it's my decision and I'm marrying Bill in a month's time. It's upto you if you want to be there or not. I'm going to go home and give you some space to process my news, text me when you've calmed down and we can talk more about it later." Charlotte huffed, rising from the sofa and storming out of Lizzy's flat.

She sat back on the sofa, legs on the coffee table as she thought on her conversation with Charlotte. Of course she hadn't meant to handle her best friend's news the way she did but it was a shock. Charlotte, at the age of twenty-two, wasn't the type to give up the life she had lived since they had lived in halls of residence and settle down to become a vicar's wife and seek the approval of Catherine De Bourgh as her cousin did so frequently. But just as she considered texting Charlotte an apology, her phone rang.

"Hello Will." she sighed.

"Have I caught you at a bad time? I can call back later?" Will suggested.

"No...sorry. Charlotte and I have just had a disagreement about something and she left." Lizzy replied, closing her eyes.

"Do you want me to come over?" William asked.

"I don't want to bother you." Lizzy muttered.

"Give me thirty minutes and I'll be there."

"You don't have to-"

"I insist." Will replied, ending the phone call.

Lizzy chucked her phone on to the coffee table, not caring that it tipped over the empty glass. Why had she not just bitten her tongue and congratulated her best friend on her engagement? _Because Lizzy, you're too honest sometimes for your own good,_ she answered her question herself. But just as she started to think of ways to make it up to Charlotte, the door knocked. She got up and answered it, smiling slightly as she allowed Will into her flat.

"I got in as someone was leaving." said Will, presenting her with a box of chocolates.

Her heart melted at his kindness, "You didn't have to get me anything." she replied.

"I can't have you upset and besides, isn't chocolate a good way of cheering up?"

"It's also a good way of piling on unwanted calories." she laughed.

"I doubt you'd be able to pile on unwanted calories very easily, you're quite fit so you'll be able to burn them off quickly." Will replied.

The two went through to the living room, sitting on the sofa as the chocolates were placed next to Lizzy's phone on the coffee table.

"What happened?" William asked.

Lizzy took a deep breath and explained about Charlotte getting engaged, Bill's position with the De Bourgh family and the fact that she felt that Charlotte was giving up too much of herself and was settling rather than marrying because she loved Bill. Charlotte had never spoken of her feelings for Bill before, not even when they first starting dating, it just made Lizzy worry for Charlotte that she was marrying for the wrong reasons.

"I'm sure that once you've both slept on it, you can call her and voice your concerns in a way that she's not going to get angry about. From what I've seen of this Bill Collins, he'll be able to give her a comfortable life and my Aunt is quite generous-"

"Your Aunt is Lady Catherine De Bourgh?" Lizzy asked, shocked.

William nodded, "Yes, she's my mother's sister. I had the pleasure of meeting your cousin last summer when I went to visit with Frank and Georgiana." he replied.

"Small world." Lizzy muttered.

"I suppose it is." Will agreed with a chuckle.

"Do you want a drink?" Lizzy asked.

"No I'm good." Will replied softly, playing with a lock of her hair.

She rested her head on his shoulder, "I'm sorry that you felt you had to come over here." she muttered.

"Don't be silly, I had to make sure you're okay."

"How was your day?" Lizzy asked.

"Well my home is now free of Caroline Bingley so I guess I'm a little happier." he laughed.

Lizzy smiled, "Is she really that terrible? From the very little amount of time that I spent in her company she seemed a little snobbish."

"You've just put it kindly. I've known Charles since our boarding school days from the age of eleven, we've always been good friends. Through him I met his two sisters, Louisa and Caroline, although Louisa got married last year to a man a few years older than me who we also know from boarding school. Caroline, she's always had a bit of a thing for me." William explained.

She felt a surge of jealousy, no wonder why the woman was a bit off with her when they had met for the first time.

"I see." Lizzy replied, sitting up straight.

Will placed a finger under her chin, gently pulling her face back to his gaze, "Are you jealous?" he teased.

"It's just that she insinuated that I was with you for your money or whatever, that I wasn't a good match for you-"

He silenced her with a hungry kiss, his hands cupping her face and holding her to him as his tongue forced it's way into her mouth and battled her own. Lizzy shifted closer to him, sitting in his lap as her arms wrapped around his neck. She moaned softly when his lips broke away from hers and moved down her jaw and to her neck.

"I love your shampoo," he whispered, "Especially when you wear your hair down like this."

Her eyes closed as he continued to leave heated, open mouthed kisses on her neck and along the v shape of her t-shirt. Lizzy moved her hands from his neck to his hair, lightly running through the mass of brown curls. Will stopped kissing her, looking into her eyes as he held her to him.

"Caroline Bingley is a jealous, bitter woman. She wants what she can't have, will _never_ have. I'm not interested in her nor anyone else. Except you."

Lizzy smiled as she shifted in his lap, "Even if I'm just a waitress?" she asked.

"You're so much more than that Lizzy, it's been a long time since I had feelings for someone the way I feel about you." he admitted.

"How long are we talking here?" Lizzy asked curiously.

"My last girlfriend was when I was in university, we had been together for two years but we broke up shortly after Lucy died. She supported me through the funeral but when I told her that it was my intention to become Leonard's guardian she said that I shouldn't expect her to play mummy at such a young age so we parted ways."

"Was it a bad breakup?"

"A little bit, we were going to go travelling when Lucy died unexpectedly. Of course, she put all that on hold so that I could grieve the loss of my sister but when it became apparent that my father couldn't give Leonard the time and attention or the care that he needed, I fulfilled the promise that I made to Lucy; that I would be there for Leo if anything happened to her. Eleanor couldn't understand why I would, even going as far as to say that Leonard wasn't my blood nephew as Lucy was only my adoptive sister but that didn't matter to me. She left Pemberley the following day when I refused to give up on Leonard."

Lizzy's heart melted at his story, "That's really wonderful of you." she whispered.

"What else could I do? He was nearly two when it happened, a defenceless child but Eleanor didn't understand that. She gave me a choice, her or Leonard and I made that choice; and I don't regret it."

"And there's been no-one since?" she asked.

Will shook his head, "Until you." he replied.

She leaned in and pecked his lips lightly, giving him a small smile.

"Seeing as we're on the subject of previous relationships, how about you?" he asked quietly.

Lizzy shifted uncomfortably but remained in his lap, "Well you know what happened with George and there was someone that I met in physiotherapy, his name was Oliver. We became friends through our similar experiences and I suppose we bonded over them, we were on and off for about a year but when I came to university we went our separate ways. Let's just say that Oliver wasn't so understanding and very impatient." she explained.

"Impatient?"

She nodded, "He was the first guy...I...you know...and after our first time...he wanted to get me to do things that I wasn't ready for. When I explained that I needed to go at my own pace instead of trying to keep up, he ended it."

"It sounds like you don't have a great experience." Will muttered.

"I don't," she agreed, "The relationship with Oliver happened such a short time after my relationship with George ended so trust was a big issue for me, I wouldn't go with him in his car alone, I wouldn't sleep with him straight away because George had tried to pressure me into a physical relationship. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking about this-"

"No, don't apologise. I asked you a question and you answered it. So Oliver was your last boyfriend?"

Lizzy nodded, "I've been single for nearly three years, no hookups or flings in that time. Matthew expressed an interest and we went out on one date but we decided that we're better off as friends. There's been nobody else...until you." she replied, smiling.

Will returned her smile, "New territory for both of us then, how about we explore this together slowly? One step at a time? And I can assure you now, I'm quite a patient man."

Lizzy giggled, "I'd like that but don't be afraid to test the waters every now and again."

"Deal." he whispered, claiming her kiss in another heated kiss.

ooOoo

Saturday night for Lydia consisted of lying to her parents that she was staying at Isobel's house, packing a bag and heading with Kitty to the army base where George and Denny were waiting for them at the gate. She was beginning to feel infatuated with George, he had managed to gain special permission, along with Denny, for the two of them to stay the night on the base and then the two of them were going into Watford for the day on Sunday. Her friends at school were jealous that she was dating an older man and she hoped that tonight, the two of them would be taking the next step in their relationship.

George greeted her at the security gate, kissing her and walked behind Kitty and Denny, letting the other two get further ahead of them.

"I've been looking forward to this for ages!" Lydia squealed.

"So have I, more than you know." George replied.

"It's my birthday next week, I'll be fifteen." Lydia boasted.

"And turning into a more lovely young lady, my Little Lydia."

"Can I have an early birthday present?" Lydia whispered.

The two of them stopped with George looking around to make sure that nobody was watching them when he pushed her down the small alleyway between two of the buildings on base.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" George asked, panting slightly.

Lydia batted her eyelashes at him, "I want you more than I've ever wanted anything."

"You're consenting to me being physical with you?" George asked.

Lydia nodded, "Yes." she breathed.

George spun her around and told her to place her hands on the wall in front of her to which she did. His hands reached underneath the denim skirt that she wore and groaned when he realised that she was wearing a thong underneath. She purred like a cat as he stroked her, feeling her excitement as he retracted his hand and unzipped his jeans, this was going to be easy, in order to get closer to Lizzy again he had to keep her little sister happy and satisfied but for the time being, Lydia was more than happy to oblige but all he wanted was Elizabeth and he had never had the chance to have her.

ooOoo

Sunday was a quiet affair for Lizzy, she had the open with Jade who was still sulking over the fact that William had popped in for breakfast with Leo and failed to flirt with her. His attention had purely been on Lizzy and had leaned in for a kiss before he left the cafe to which Lizzy gladly gave. When her shift ended at two o'clock on Sunday afternoon she went home and changed into her running gear, going for a run along the seafront before deciding to call at Charlotte's house. The two friends apologised to each other and Lizzy expressed her concerns that she feared her best friend was settling for a quiet life instead of becoming the lawyer that Charlotte had wanted to become since their days in halls of residence. Monday consisted of another open but with Paige this time, who was excited that her husband was coming home in July for three weeks. On Monday afternoon she went out to lunch with Matthew who filled her in on his first date with Maria and she filled him in on her first date with Will.

"I'm really happy for you Lizzy." Matthew said warmly, looking at the lunch menu in The Trafalgar.

"It's only been nearly a week since we first agreed to go out, it's all new." Lizzy replied, turning over her own menu.

"But I've never seen you light up the way you do when you talk about William Darcy." Matthew replied with a smile.

Lizzy felt herself blush as she decided to order the chicken wrap and fries whilst Matthew opted for a mixed grill, both went up to the bar and placed their food order and went back to their table with their drinks; a pint of strongbow for Matthew and a vodka and coke for Lizzy. As the two continued to talk and laugh over things whilst eating their lunch, they were unaware of a person sat in the corner behind them, taking photographs of them on a digital camera.

ooOoo

He didn't understand why Caroline Bingley was so obsessed with finding out the history of the beautiful brunette sat three tables away, laughing with the man opposite her. But then again, he wasn't going to complain because Caroline Bingley was paying him handsomely to find out about this woman's past and so far it had been an easy task. So for now he was going to keep taking photographs of her and email them over to Miss Bingley before he dug into her history: medical records, education records, criminal records and hopefully there would be something that Caroline would be satisfied with.

ooOoo

Monday afternoon that had started as lunch with Matthew turned into drinks with Maria and Charlotte and a few guys that Matthew lived with in a shared house. By five in the evening, Lizzy was heading home to watch her pre-recorded omnibus of Coronation Street, a takeaway and an early night. Will called her as she was in the bath and he teased that he'd like to join her which caused her to tell him off but was amused by their talk. She went to bed at nine o'clock, setting her alarm for seven in the morning so that she had time to shower and get ready before heading to the care home.

ooOoo

"Uncle Will, I've finished my work. My tutor's just using the loo." said Leonard as he entered the living room.

"Well done Leo." William replied, setting down the laptop on the coffee table.

Leonard sat next to his uncle on the sofa, he had been looking over the income accounts of the family's properties in Lambton and Kympton and everything seemed to be doing well with a few things that he had to speak with his father about.

"Uncle Will, do you know what's coming soon?" Leonard asked.

Will nodded, "End of July it will be four years since your mum died." he replied quietly.

Leonard looked up at him sadly, "I don't have parents do I?" he asked.

"Of course you do! Leo, listen to me. Your mum loved you more than anything and she was taken from you so horribly."

"What about my dad? He didn't want me."

William sighed, "Leonard, your dad is a nasty person. You know what he did don't you?"

Leonard nodded, "Grandad Reg said he left my mummy in the car and ran off." he replied.

"Leo, I know it may be horrible for you, not having your mum around and not knowing your dad but you still have me, Grandad Reg, Auntie Georgie and Uncle Frank. We all love you and we'll always be there for you."

The boy nodded, "I just get sad sometimes, I'm scared that when I start school the other kids will pick on me for having a different family." Leonard explained.

Will hugged his nephew, he hated it when Leonard got upset like this.

"Just because we have a different family doesn't mean we aren't one. If any kid picks on you for that then you tell me and I'll speak to the teacher, okay?"

"Okay."

William released his nephew and told him to go and put on his trainers, he was going to take him to the common to kick a ball about for a little while. Leonard smiled, rushing out of the room when his phone rang.

"Hello Dad." Will greeted.

"Hello Fitzwilliam, how are you? how is my grandson?" Reginald asked.

"We're both okay, Leonard's a little upset as it's getting closer to Lucy's anniversary." William said quietly.

"I know, I'm still looking." Reginald replied.

William sighed, "Dad, he just upped and left and there is no record of that scumbag anywhere."

"The scumbag killed my daughter and I'm beginning to think he used a fake name."

"I know! he crashed that car, put Lucy in the driver's seat and left. Don't you think that makes me angry too?" William asked.

"For my grandson's sake, we have to give Lucy the justice she deserves. I will spend how ever long it takes hunting him down!" Reginald vowed.

"Okay dad, I'll leave you to it. But I've looked over the accounts, everything seems good but with the rise in housing prices and business rates we need to up the rent a little bit in order to cover the costs."

"Very well, I'll consult my finance manager and come up with the new rental agreements-"

"I think it best that for now, just up the rent on the contracts that will need renewing, most of the tenants are halfway through their current rental agreements so the ones that will need renewing soon just up those. The tenants won't like it but we need to stick to our end of the agreements."

"Very well. Have you spoken to Frank recently?" Reginald asked.

"About a week ago, why?"

"He's handed in his notice to the army, he has to serve for the next twelve months but as of next year he'll be coming home to Pemberley."

This was news to him. Frank had enlisted for a four year service at sixteen and had been in the army ever since. Frank was now nearing twenty-eight and had served for twelve years, he loved serving his country.

"Did he say why?"

"He says that he's served twelve years and wants to settle down. He wants to meet someone and settle down, have a family. Frank reckons that the men who serve who are already married and have children find it hard leaving their families behind after a leave of absence from the army. He doesn't want that so hence his decision to leave."

"What does he plan to do when he does come home to Pemberley?"

"I've had a word with the guys at the Lambton army cadets, the officer who runs it is looking to retire next year. When Frank comes home, I've arranged for him to take it over. It's only two nights a week but it will give him something to do and Georgie will be home from boarding school as she finishes next year unless she wants to stay for her sixth form, she said she's going to email you this week at some point."

Leonard came back into the room, trainers tied and holding a football.

"Dad, I have to go, Leonard and I are off for a kick about. I'll get him to call you later okay?"

"Okay son, have a good afternoon."

"You too dad."

William ended the phone call, promising Leonard the chance to speak with his grandfather before he went to bed that night. He pulled on his own trainers and said goodbye to Mrs Reynolds and saw the tutor on the way out.

ooOoo

Tuesday morning consisted of Lizzy pressing the snooze button on her alarm and waking up half an hour after her alarm was originally set for. She rushed through breakfast and a shower, dressed into a pair of skinny jeans and t-shirt before pulling on a hoody and her converses, packing her bag and leaving the flat where she arrived at the children's home ten minutes after she said she would originally be there. Elaine greeted her warmly as did Toby and Lisa and she found Jacob in the living room playing on the PlayStation 2.

"Hey Jacob." Lizzy greeted.

Jacob paused the game, grinning as he got to his feet and hugged her.

"Lizzy! I have the day off school!" he said proudly.

Lizzy smiled, "Really? Why's that?"

"Inset day." Isaac replied.

"Lizzy, play with me?" Jacob asked, bouncing up and down excitedly.

So that was how her day consisting, playing a Crash Bandicoot game with Jacob on the PS2 and eating lunch with Elaine where they talked a little more about Jacob. Since the end of her placement, there had been a little relapse in Jacob's behaviour until Elaine had phoned her and arranged a visit for a day where Jacob had an inset day and ever since, Jacob had been told he had to behave in order for Lizzy to visit.

"He's doing well," Elaine said with a smile, "his school place is sorted now as is your job as support worker, have you received your information yet?"

Lizzy nodded, "I got it in the post yesterday, salary information, contracted hours and my CRB check has come back clear so I'm all set to start on the seventh of September." she replied.

"We're going to see how well he gets on during the first term. When half-term in October starts, if Jacob is doing well we're going to start looking for potential foster parents." Elaine stated.

"Do you think you can find someone capable of meeting Jacob's needs?"

"I hope so, a child like Jacob needs a foster carer who has experience dealing with autism and other disabilities. We managed to successfully get a girl name Yasmin fostered last year and she was registered blind. Her foster carers are now her adoptive parents, they were amazing with her."

"Wow, that's impressive." Lizzy said with a smile.

"Jacob has been fostered in the past and the people who were in charge of securing those foster placements didn't take into consideration of Jacob's autism and that's why his placements haven't been successful, even if foster care is supposed to be temporary. Initially we want Jacob to find a foster family who can foster him for the long-term instead of a few weeks or months. In Yasmin's case, she was fostered for six months before her adoptive parents asked to adopt her, another six months onwards and they're a happy family. Of course, not all foster families will adopt a foster child but it would be nice if Jacob could have that."

Lizzy smiled when her phone beeped, a text message from Will.

 _What time are we meeting? xo_

 _I was thinking u could come over about 6? xo_

 _What's the plan? x_

 _Dinner or a movie? x_

 _Movie, that way I can kiss u as much as I want at the back of the cinema ;) x_

 _I thought kissing would be on the cards anyway :) xo_

Lizzy looked up to see Elaine looking at her with an eyebrow raised and she realised that her former co-worker had been watching her text William all the while grinning throughout the process.

"Boyfriend?" Elaine asked.

She blushed, "It's been a week but I'm already infatuated. I think it's a bit early to consider him my boyfriend." Lizzy replied.

"Well, I'm happy for you." Elaine said with a smile.

Lizzy left the children's home mid-afternoon, promising Jacob that she would come and visit again one weekend when she had the time. When she got home she quickly showered again and pulled out a navy blue playsuit to wear. Once dressed, she dried her hair and got out her curling tongues; deciding to do something different than leaving her natural waves in. She knew that Will liked it when her hair was down and she wanted to make an effort for him.

The intercom buzzed at quarter past five as she was finishing applying her makeup when she buzzed William into the building and opening her front door to him. He looked down at her, smiling and staring at the freshly painted red lips where she had just applied her lipstick. Will shut the door behind him, smiling at her as she went back into her bedroom to change over her bag to a small clutch which would hold her keys, phone and purse.

ooOoo

"So this is where you sleep?" Will asked, looking at the double bed freshly made with black and white sheets to the two wooden bedside tables where one held a desk lamp and phone charger to the triple wardrobe where Lizzy stood in front of the full length mirror clasping in a pair of silver studs with amethysts set into them.

Elizabeth nodded, "For the past two years." she replied.

"It's a nice flat, cosy."

"Well, you certainly don't have any objections to my sofas." she teased.

He smiled, remembering how on the last few times they had shared a kiss they had been sitting on her sofa, kissing heatedly but not going too far.

"They're very comfortable." William replied.

She finished fastening her earrings and walked over to him, smiling up at with with those rose red painted lips and gestured for them to leave the flat but they didn't leave straight away. His lips met hers softly, kissing her enthusiastically until he pulled away and heard that soft moan that escaped her lips whenever he broke away from her. He loved hearing that sound, it only made him want to hear it more and louder but he had to restrain himself because they had made a deal to discover this relationship slowly.

"We should get to the cinema." Lizzy whispered.

William nodded, "Have you decided a film to watch yet?" he asked.

The two left the flat and began walking up the road as they started their journey to Gunwharf Quays. Lizzy admitted that she hadn't looked at what films were currently being shown or times just that with them meeting early they could have a lot of time together. He had been wanting to see her ever since he had woken up that morning but he didn't want to come across as being needy for her company or a stalker for asking her to give up her plans with seeing Jacob.

"How was your day?" Lizzy asked as they continued their walk up Winston Churchill Avenue.

"It's been okay, Leonard was a little upset because it's approaching his mother's four year anniversary so I took him to the common for a kick about. I also had a phone conversation with my father, he told me that my adoptive brother is leaving the army next year." Will replied.

"Is Leonard okay?"

"He is now, he's just nervous about starting school and being picked on because his family is 'different' than what other kids may have."

"All families are different. Some have parents and siblings, some have one parent and others may have parents with no siblings, it all depends on the family."

"I told him that just because ours is different it doesn't mean we aren't a family. Leonard's had a tough life, he doesn't know his father and if I'm being honest, he's better off not knowing him and his mother died just before he turned two. He's six in August, I can't imagine how he must feel sometimes, I can relate on the losing your mother part but not knowing either parent must be hard." Will admitted.

They stopped walking and she squeezed his hand with hers, causing him to look into those hazel eyes of hers and see the compassion there.

"From the short amount of time that I've known you, Leonard is a great little boy and you're amazing with him, Will." Lizzy said quietly.

"I try my best."

Lizzy nodded, "That's all you can do." she said.

What was it about her that made him feel that he was walking on air? It wasn't just her looks, it was her conversation, her personality, it was... _everything,_ he realised.

"Thank you. Now, shall we get to the cinema? he asked.

She nodded, keeping hold of his hand as they continued their journey to Gunwharf Quays, heading through the shopping complex and up the escalator to the cinema. He paid for their tickets, although she tried to pay him for hers and he wouldn't allow it and the pair went up to the popcorn counter and ordered and drink combo to share before heading into the fifth screen to watch the horror film they had chosen to watch.

They sat as close as they could to each other during the film, with Lizzy placing her head on his shoulder as he rested his on top of her. The popcorn was settled into his lap and the drink in the cup holder between their chairs. Every now and then she would reach into the popcorn box to help herself just like he would take a mouthful of the drink, neither had minded sharing with the other. The film was your typical horror film, people disappearing because of supernatural causes, a vengeful ghost possessing someone's body and taking revenge on those who had done it wrong in life. As the movie went on, the more gruesome the death became. The latest one was massacred with a chainsaw and blood was pouring everywhere alongside the innards of the victim's body, he looked down at Lizzy who had her eyes squeezed closed.

William moved his hand out of her grasp and tucked a finger under her chin, turning her head up towards him and kissing her softly. She responded immediately, leaning upwards as her lips moved in sync with his. They kept it at a slow rhythm for several minutes, with Will twirling a piece of her hair around his fingers as she continued to lean up and move her lips against his; licking at his lips to meet his tongue but he refused, the cinema was packed and he didn't want the people around them to view something other than the movie.

When they separated, the movie was playing the final scene, where the last few people to survive the mass murders managed to defeat the possessed ghost and made a pact not to speak of the events again and the last credits rolled with a song playing behind the list of names of the actors who had starred in the film. The two of them got up from their seats and left the screening room, heading out into the crowded cinema, holding hands.

"What did you think of the movie?" Will asked.

The two left the cinema, walking down the stairs and began strolling along the marina at the front of Gunwharf Quays, The clock tower from Guildhall Square chimed seven o'clock and many people were starting to head to the restaurants as the shops were closing.

"I do enjoy a little horror film now and then but I thought that was a bit predictable." Lizzy replied.

"I thought you looked a little squeamish." he teased.

"Oh that? I only shut my eyes because she kept looking down at me throughout the film that I thought you'd want to kiss me if you thought I was scared." she said with a grin.

"You didn't...did you?"

Lizzy stood in front of him, running her hands through his mass of dark brown curls, still grinning.

"I thought it was cute, you can't take your eyes off me. I think someone's got it bad and we've only been on two dates." she teased in a whisper.

He raised an eyebrow, grabbing her waist and pulling her to him as close as he could, "You like teasing me, don't you Miss Bennet?" he murmured.

Lizzy continued to grin, "It's becoming one of my favourite things to do." she replied.

"The thing with that, Elizabeth, is that when you least expect it, I will get revenge on you." he warned.

"I'll bear it in mind that I shall have to be on my guard at all times when around you."

"There will be a moment where I'll get even with you for teasing me." William vowed.

Before she could reply, he heard her stomach growl in hunger. They both looked at each other and laughed, beginning to walk along the marina.

ooOoo

"Do you want to get a takeaway and eat at mine?" Lizzy suggested.

"Sounds good, what would you like to eat?" Will replied.

"Chinese? Curry? Pizza? Kebab? I don't mind, you pick." she offered.

He hesitated as they left Gunwharf Quays and walked past the playing fields and some university buildings.

"How about Domino's? The last time we had their pizza's it was good."

"Sounds great, my treat." Lizzy smiled.

"It's okay, I'll pay-"

"William, it's fine. You paid for the cinema, I'll pay for dinner."

"Lizzy-"

"Are we really going to debate over who pays for what?" she said, looking at him and hoping he would recognise that she wasn't going to give in.

He sighed heavily as they walked through Guildhall Walk, passing the noisy clubs and drunk adults and walked the rest of the way back to Lizzy's flat.

"Fine, I'll give in." he muttered.

She smiled triumphantly as they made it to the end of her road. Lizzy let them both into the building and up to the second floor where she rummaged through her clutch bag to pull out her keys when she was spun around quickly but before she could gasp, his lips covered her own and she moaned into his mouth. Still clutching her bag, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he pushed her back against her door with a light thump. Will forced her mouth open and slid his tongue into her mouth to caress her own, his hands gripping her hips possessively.

Lizzy retracted the hand that held her keys and without pulling away, she felt around the door behind her until she was struggling to get the key into the lock. It took a few attempts, William was continuing to kiss her with some much passion that it was hard to think straight, until finally she managed to wriggle the key into the lock and turned it, pressing down onto the door handle and they both tumbled backwards, with Lizzy pulling they key out of the lock and being pressed hard on the other side of the door; with Will covering her body and never breaking the kiss.

William moved his grip from her hips to her thighs, hoisting her upwards and wrapping her legs around his waist, she moaned into his mouth as he pressed further into her; his mouth breaking from hers as they both panted, trying to regain their breath as his forehead rested against her own and his eyes closed.

"What...was that?" Lizzy asked, breath still ragged.

"Payback for teasing." he said with a hoarse voice.

She moved her hand, cupping his face as she gently moved it upwards so that they could look at each other deeply.

"That didn't seem like payback." she whispered.

He shook his head, "I think I need a minute to calm down," he muttered, "why don't you go and order, I'll have the Texas bbq pizza."

Lizzy bit her lip and nodded as he set her back safely down to the floor and stepped away from her. She walked into her living room, picking up the landline and dialling the number for Domino's pizza in Fratton, ordering Will's Texas bbq and a New Yorker pizza for herself and gave out her card details over the phone. When the order was placed, she set the phone back into it's holder and went to pour her and Will a drink each.

She was still feeling as heated as the kiss had been minutes ago, it had been the most thrilling kiss of her life; he had sent tingles all over her body and she had felt urges in places she hadn't felt since her relationship with Oliver. In the moment, she had wanted him and she was pretty convinced that he had wanted her and if he hadn't broken the kiss when he did, they would have most certainly ended up in her bedroom because neither of them would have been thinking straight. At this point, Will had entered her living room and sat himself down on to the sofa, thanking her for the glass of coke that she handed to him.

"So, are we going to talk about what could have happened?" Lizzy muttered.

He looked at her with the expression she had seen when they had first met which only made her laugh, his serious face.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry...your expression.." she didn't finish, she merely sat next to him and placed her drink on the table.

"I'm sorry for pushing things too far on our second date. If I hadn't pulled away, I know that I would be-"

Lizzy placed her hand into his and squeezed it lightly, "Will, don't apologise. I told you to test the waters every now and again, I'll admit that a part of me is disappointed because it made me feel..."

William raised an eyebrow, "How did it make you feel?" he asked.

"Wanted, needed. It was the most thrilling kiss of my life." she admitted quietly, turning her face away from his in an attempt to hide her blushing cheeks.

"Don't be embarrassed Lizzy." he said softly, turning her face back to his.

"Why shouldn't I be? My experience with relationships is limited. My longest relationship run with Oliver was six months before another six months of on-off trying to make it work. I was with George with four months. That's as serious as it got."

"Lizzy, I've only had three girlfriends. One was my first in boarding school, she was a friend of Caroline's. That relationship lasted for eight months when I was sixteen. The next one lasted for nine months when I was seventeen and then there was Eleanor and you already know that story. Just because you have 'limited' experience doesn't make me think less of you. I think that your experience was down to the trauma you've been through and I don't blame you for that, the blame is down to the stupid boy who left you for dead when he should have helped and stayed with you." William replied.

"I don't want to get hurt again." she muttered.

"I'll try my absolute hardest never to hurt you, Elizabeth. We agreed to take this slowly, at your pace if you need to. I want to share more passionate moments like earlier with you but I will never push you so far that you don't feel ready for it. I can and will control myself if we ever do get into another encounter like earlier, I promise. Nothing has to happen until you say you're ready." William assured her.

Elizabeth let out a breath, "Okay, I can do that." she replied.

"Now that's out of the way with, what are you doing on Friday night?" he asked.

She giggled slightly, "Nothing at the moment, why?"

"Because Leonard wants to go and see a movie that night and I've convinced Charles and Mrs R to take him to the cinema so I'll have the house to myself. Mrs R will have left a lasagne in the oven for us if you want to come over for dinner?"

Lizzy smiled, running a hand through his hair, "I'd love to."

But before he had the chance to reply, Lizzy's phone beeped.

 _What u doing this weekend? J x_

"Jane." she said quietly.

 _Having dinner at Will's on Fri, earlies Sat & Sun. Why? x_

 _Any chance I can stay down?_

 _Of course! if u don't mind me getting up at 5am for work_

 _Idm :) see u late Fri_

"It seems that Jane is staying with me this weekend." Lizzy said.

"Do you want to rearrange?" Will asked.

Lizzy shook her head, "No, I'll get to see her. I think she's down because she and Charles have been texting a lot, I don't mind." she replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

There was a buzz on the intercom as Will got up to answer the door and minutes later, brought the pizza's into the living room where they watched some sitcom on the TV and ate their food. After they had finished eating and their food and stomachs were settled, Lizzy once again found herself in Will's lap and being kissed senseless, she loved how he kept his hands in 'neutral' territory on her waist and didn't stray from their position unless he was cupping her face or placing them in her hair which he seemed to like doing.

Their night ended when Lizzy got a phone call from Charlotte and Will said his goodbyes with one last kiss and shutting the door behind himself. Lizzy ended up having to call Charlotte back and the two discussed her second date with Will, finding herself unable to wait for the third.


	11. Chapter 11

William had spent most of the week trying to find his sister a present for her fifteenth birthday that would be occurring on Saturday. Fifteen years old, an almost ten year age gap between them but they had always been close. He recalled a conversation that he had with Mrs Reynolds, how she thought it was funny when his father complained at having Georgie's birthday in June, having Lucy's birthday in early July and then Leonard's in the middle of August and William's birthday at the end of August whilst Frank's birthday was two days before Christmas. Mrs Reynolds had said that his father found it stressful having to organise three birthdays in a short amount of time between the other's and when Leonard had been born it nearly made him implode.

On Thursday, he enlisted the help of Elizabeth to help him pick out what to get Georgiana for her birthday, having no clue what teenage girls liked. Elizabeth, having two very girly younger sisters, suggested buying her a gift voucher so that Georgie had the option of buying her own clothes. He, thinking that was a great idea and thinking himself stupid for not thinking of it himself, handed over fifty pounds in cash and asked Lizzy to go to Debenhams and purchase said gift voucher, Georgie liked to shop at a Debenhams store now and then. Whilst Lizzy went and got the gift card, he went into a jewellery shop and bought a simple, white gold locket for his sister and paid extra to have a 'G' initial engraved into the front of the oval shape.

He met up with Lizzy at the fountain, who handed over the gift voucher and receipt, and kissed her goodbye so that she could head off to Fagin's to start her shift. Will went into one of the card shops to get a birthday card to Georgie before heading home and wrapping the present and looking at paying for a courier company to deliver the present to Georgie at boarding school.

On Friday morning, there was an unexpected knock on the door as he, Leonard, Charles and Mrs Reynolds were fathered around the breakfast table. Will rose from his seat, half eaten piece of toast in his hand and went to answer the front door; his mouth gaping open widely as he saw the last person that he had expected to see. In front of him stood a girl he hadn't seen since Easter, a little taller than the last time he had seen her, blonde hair curlier than ever and falling past her shoulders and the same brown eyes and nose as he. She smiled in greeting, taking down her umbrella and jumping up to wrap her arms around his shoulders in a hug.

"Georgie-"

"I've missed you, Fitzwilliam." she said, cutting him off.

William led her into the house, placing the small suitcase by the stairs and her umbrella on the coat stand by the door. He stood back from her, observing if she was truly stood in his doorway as he closed the door behind her.

"What are you-"

"Doing here? Dad called the school and got permission for me to get leave this weekend as it's my birthday tomorrow." Georgiana replied with a smile.

"It's great to see you!" Will replied enthusiastically, hugging his sister once more.

"Darcy, the croissants are getting cold!" Charles called from the kitchen.

"Have you eaten?" William asked Georgiana.

His sister shook her head, "No, the car picked me up in the early hours of the morning so I'm starving." she replied.

William took her through to the kitchen where the others greeted her warmly, the most warm greeting came from Leonard who leapt from his seat, squealing 'Auntie G' and hugged her tightly. Mrs Reynolds was next, sitting Georgiana down after the two had embraced and started making Georgiana something to eat whilst Charles gave her a brief hug and departed from the house, promising to be back in time to take Leonard to the cinema.

"Can Auntie G come too Uncle Will?" Leonard asked excitedly as Charles closed the front door behind him.

"I'd love to come." Georgiana replied, ruffling Leonard's blonde hair.

"Uncle Will has a girl coming over for dinner. Her name's Lizzy and she's cool, she took me to a castle and we went on swan boats with my new friend Harry. Charles says that Uncle Will and Lizzy kiss now which is icky-"

Georgiana looked at Will, eyebrow raised as she thanked Mrs R for the croissants which were now placed in front of her.

"Someone's been busy. New girlfriend?" she asked.

Will scratched his forehead, he and Lizzy were still yet to establish their relationship in official terms.

"Tonight she's coming over for dinner, it's our third date. But now you're here I can rearrange-"

"No you won't. My arrival was a surprise and an intrusion for the weekend. We can catch up for a bit and then Leo and I can do something for a little bit and tonight I'll go to the cinema with Leonard, Charles and Mrs Reynolds, assuming that is what the original plan was. Tomorrow we can spend the day together as it's my birthday, if you don't mind?" Georgie asked.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, Fitzwilliam you don't need to change your plans because I've come to visit for the weekend."

"You'll probably get to meet her at some point. Her sister is staying this weekend too and her sister and Charles have agreed to meet up. If the weather is nice on Sunday, the plan was to have a barbecue and they are coming over, if you don't object?"

"I'd love to meet her. I'd like to see who's captured my brother's attention." Georgiana replied warmly.

Will smiled, "She is amazing." he breathed.

Leonard looked at his Uncle and then to his Auntie and said, "Yuck. Uncle Will's got it bad." and went back to his cereal.

Georgiana laughed, "Where did you hear that, Leo?" she asked.

"From Charles, he says that Uncle Will really likes Lizzy and that he always wants to be with her."

Georgiana continued to laugh as Will felt his cheeks turn a little red but he didn't deny anything that was said. He liked Lizzy, a lot and whenever they were apart he did want to go and see her but he kept himself in check and text or called her instead. Besides, they were seeing a lot of each other anyway, any more and they might get sick of each other's company.

ooOoo

Lizzy woke at ten o'clock on Friday morning, a little late for her but she figured that everyone deserves a lie in every now and again. She got home at nine last night after the close with Jade, who was beginning to become more of a nightmare to work with considering Jade still carried a torch for William. Her...boyfriend? Was it too soon to call him that? They were due for their third date tonight so maybe she should talk about it with him then.

She pulled her phone from the bedside table, unlocking it to see a text from Jane to say that she was coming into Portsmouth at four and going to the cinema with Charles, Mrs Reynolds and Leonard and asked if she should meet her at Will's house when the movie was over so that the two of them could return to her flat together, as Jane didn't have a key. Lizzy text back and told her it was fine to do that and that she'd see her later. Just as she kicked back the covers, she heard her phone beep again.

 _Just a heads up, my sister is here, W x_

 _Do u want to rearrange, I know u haven't seen her for a while. L x_

 _No, just a warning if she tries to grill u about us. She likes to tease me too :) x_

Lizzy laughed as she went through to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea, putting fresh water in the kettle and setting it to boil.

 _I like your version of payback when I tease u ;) x_

 _Maybe u should tease me 2night then ;) xo_

She made herself a cup of tea and switched on the TV, hearing the rain pour harder on her balcony outside. It was a day like today, with clouds covering the whole of the sky and rain pouring so hard that she had to turn the TV volume up, that made it hard to believe they were in the month of June.

 _Do u want 2 come over at 6? The others are leaving at half 5, their movie starts at 6ish I believe x_

 _Shall I bring anything? x_

 _No, just yourself :) W xo_

The rest of her day was organised by doing housework, washing her clothes and heading to ASDA to get some treats in for her and Jane over the weekend, she also bought Lydia a birthday card as it was her birthday on Monday and shoved a twenty pound note inside; Lydia was quite difficult to buy for, even though her youngest sister liked to shop, she hated having clothes bought for her for a number of different reasons. So, she figured that shoving some money inside a card would be the better option as that way, Lydia had complete freedom to buy whatever she wanted.

At four o'clock she got a text from Jane to say that Charles had met her at the train station and that she'd see her later as Lizzy jumped into the shower. At half five, her hair had been washed and dried, she had pulled on a pair of skinny jeans and a navy blue blouse with matching flats and left her flat to walk to Will's house.

ooOoo

Will waved goodbye to Charles and the others who had climbed into his best friend's seven seater car to head off to the cinema. Georgiana had teased that she was going to deliberately stall them so that they could see him with Lizzy and although Charles had a new girlfriend in the form of Lizzy's sister Jane, the teasing of a new relationship still landed on Will instead of his best friend.

He waited on the driveway, in the light downpour of rain as Lizzy walked up the driveway and kissed him in greeting. Leading her inside the house, he took her jacket from her and watched as she went into the living room to sit on the sofa. The lasagne was still cooking in the oven, along with some garlic bread where he set the timer for another ten minutes. Will went to get them both a glass of wine, checking on dinner and set the timer for another ten minutes before returning to Lizzy in the living room.

"It appears that my best friend is now dating your sister." said Will, handing over her glass before sitting next to her.

"She's smitten with him, always mentioning that they've been talking whenever she phones me." Lizzy replied.

"It's funny how his relationship with Jane is new and should be the one getting teased but my little sister finds it amusing to tease me, you can thank my nephew for that." Will laughed.

"The only exception between our situation and theirs is that they are officially dating." Lizzy said, taking a mouthful of her wine.

Will looked at her, sighing because he knew she was right. No matter how many time they had spent time together, no matter how many times he had kissed her or she had kissed him, he still hadn't asked her to be his girlfriend, officially.

"Well then, let me rectify that. Elizabeth, will you be my girlfriend?" Will asked, his heart thumping faster in his chest.

Lizzy grinned at him, leaning over to peck his lips lightly, "Yes I will, how old do you feel asking me that question?" she teased.

"Like a schoolboy." he answered.

"Mhmmm, it's a good job that you aren't a schoolboy, I couldn't kiss a schoolboy."

She leaned forward and kissed him, a little hungrier this time until he heard the timer ping from the kitchen. Will pulled away reluctantly, gesturing that she follow him into the kitchen. Lizzy sat at the table as Will put on a pair of oven mitts and pulled out the lasagne and garlic bread, noting that she was watching him serve up the food on to two plates before he handed her one plate and set the other down on the table and took the seat next to hers. They talked a little more about what their plans were for the weekend, with Will planning on taking Georgiana and Leonard out for the day for Georgiana's birthday tomorrow and Lizzy had the open at Fagin's before she spent Saturday afternoon with Jane. On Sunday, she said that she was still planning on coming round for a barbecue with her sister if they were still welcome. She mentioned it was her youngest sister's birthday on Monday and was sending a card back up to Longbourn with Jane to give to Lydia.

"What's she like?"

"Lydia?"

He nodded, cutting up a small portion of lasagne and popping it into his mouth before snapping off a piece of garlic bread and eating that too.

"Flirtatious, reckless, wild. Kitty's like her in some ways but Kitty tends to follow Lydia's example."

"And your parents have done nothing to curb her behaviour?" Will asked.

The two ate a little more of their dinner, "My mother thinks that Lydia can do no wrong and my father leaves her to do her own thing while occasionally he'll punish her if she crosses the line too often. Apparently she's dating someone at the moment, she's constantly texting and sneaking out of the room to take a phone call according to Jane." Lizzy replied.

"If she were my sister, my father would have cut her off by now." Will muttered.

The subject changed to schools for Leonard where Will told her that he had managed to get Leonard into St John's College on September the third for his first day and was buying the school uniform through the school in a few weeks. They spoke more about Charles and Jane until they had finished their dinner feeling full and satisfied, where Lizzy complimented that Mrs Reynolds was a fantastic cook. They moved into the living room, deciding to watch Notting Hill that was showing on the TV. Soon they were kissing, tongues teasing each other and his hands rested on her lower abdomen, stroking the silky skin beneath her blouse. Making a bold move, he pulled away from her lips and moved his hands a little higher underneath her blouse. Keeping eye contact, his look silently asking her if he could touch her breasts as they rested just below her bra, when she nodded, he pulled back the material that covered them and cupped each one in his hands.

Her breathing quickened as he massaged them, teasing her nipples with firm strokes. She groaned throatily as her hands went to his hair and locked into the mass of curls and pulled him back to her lips for a more fiery kiss. William retracted his hands and began to unbutton her blouse as she grinded in his lap which only fueled his desire. Once he could see what was underneath her blouse, he pulled away from her lips once more and trailed a path of wet kisses down her neck and along the top of her breasts; pushing the bra to the side and kissing her breasts all over. Lizzy arched her back into him, his arms wrapped around her back to hold her to him as close as he could, pleasuring her with open mouthed kissing and sucking on her breasts; listening to the moans of pleasure as she grinded against him, again and again.

They continued like this for several minutes, not paying attention to their surroundings until they heard the front door open and five people stepped in, talking loudly about the movie they had seen. Lizzy moved from William's lap, tying the buttons, straightening her blouse and standing as Jane entered the living room and the two sisters hugged tightly.

Next, Will introduced Lizzy to Georgiana before Lizzy thanked Mrs Reynolds for cooking them dinner. He went upstairs to put Leonard to bed and read him a bedtime story, to find that Lizzy and Georgie were conversing quite easily which only made him smile. The group talked a little about how their evenings had gone before Lizzy and Jane announced that they had to go, Lizzy had an early shift and Jane was meeting Charles at nine for breakfast. Will walked them both to the door, giving Lizzy a parting kiss before bidding her goodnight. As he shut the door, he turned to see his smirking little sister stood behind him.

"This one is different, isn't she?" Georgie asked.

William nodded, "Very different." he agreed.

"Nothing like Eleanor. Elizabeth seems nice, she hasn't once mentioned our family money or perhaps you haven't told her?"

"She knows a little about our family's wealth but it doesn't matter to her."

"I'm happy for you, Will." Georgie smiled, leaning up to kiss her brother's cheek before heading upstairs to bed.

ooOoo

Saturday consisted of Georgiana waking up at eight in the morning by Will and Leo bursting into the bedroom with her cards and presents whilst Mrs Reynolds walked in, after she had opened her presents, carrying a breakfast tray which contained a glass of orange juice and a fry-up. She loved the locket that William had bought her, she instantly asked him to put it on for her and after eating her breakfast and accepting a gift voucher from Charles when she dressed and headed out with William and Leonard for the day.

First he showed her Southsea and it seemed that Leonard loved living by the seaside, there was so much to keep a six-year-old entertained. The common was lovely, a large green space three times the size of the field she used for her PE lessons at boarding school and the War memorial that stood on the common was grand. After keeping Leo entertained in the arcades, Will took them to Gunwharf Quays and paid for them to go up Spinnaker Tower; showing Georgiana the views of Portsmouth where he pointed out the town centre and Portsdown Hill where he said he had spent his first date with Elizabeth.

"Uncle Will, can we have Burger King for lunch?" Leonard asked.

"It's up to Auntie Georgie where we eat, it's her birthday." William replied.

"It's fine Fitzwilliam, Burger King would suit me just fine. I'm no Caroline Bingley." she laughed.

William laughed as her nephew beamed widely and hugged her round tightly, it made her happy to see her brother and nephew settled and happier for the first time in a long time. Georgiana couldn't remember the last time that she had seen the two of them not looking so unhappy because of the circumstances in which Lucy had been killed. She had been too young at the time to understand what had happened but she knew that her adoptive sister hadn't been the one driving the car and her father had hired private investigators to look for the man responsible. She couldn't remember his name.

After lunch, Will treated them both to a sundae at Sprinkles Gelato in the town centre. If she had returned to Pemberley for the weekend, it would have been just her and her father and although she loved her father dearly, Reginald Darcy would have merely treated her to a picnic in the grounds of their estate. Both her brothers and her nephew wouldn't have been there and it took a lot of persuading her father to allow her to spend the weekend in Portsmouth. It didn't matter to her that they were doing things that Reginald Darcy would have thought strange, she was where she truly wanted to be; with two of her favourite boys in the world and she couldn't be happier.

ooOoo

George Wickham was getting tired of the constant time and attention that Lydia Bennet demanded. Earlier in the week, he had shagged her for the first time; a naive, fourteen year old girl who was turning fifteen on Monday and believed them to be boyfriend and girlfriend. What a joke! he, a twenty-five year old man in the army, in a relationship with a fourteen year old?! Of course, Lydia had to believe that if he was planning a way to get in touch with Elizabeth. She hadn't stayed over since the previous weekend because he didn't want Mr and Mrs Bennet to get suspicious and they couldn't be seen by those who lived in Meryton because most of the villagers knew what he had done to Lizzy.

He lay on his bed, his phone ringing on the bedside table that he picked it up and answered it lazily.

"George, you haven't been in touch for the last two weeks!" a woman shrieked.

"Mrs Younge, I apologise. The army regiment has me training very hard that I get too tired to call. Are you okay?" he asked.

Mrs Natalia Younge had been the only foster carer who he had been with for a long period of time; exactly six years, five months and four days and after that he had turned eighteen. Mrs Younge was the only mother figure that had truly cared for him and he had taken on her last name as a sign of his devotion to her.

"I was quite worried about you, have you seen that madam since you've been back in Meryton?" Natalia asked.

"No, she's currently away at university. Her little sister is proving to be putty in my hands though."

"Which one?"

"The youngest, Lydia."

"Oh George, you always did like them young!"

"There's a naivety about young girls that I like. If I charm them enough to think that they can only rely on me the better."

"Be careful my dear. I wouldn't put it past that horrid man to keep searching for you after everything that happened with...oh what was her name again-"

"Can we not talk about that? They should have forgotten about me by now." George interrupted.

"I know dear. Just be careful."

"I promise I'll try."

"Okay dear, I'll let you rest. Call me soon."

"Bye Mrs Y."

George ended the phone call and chucked his phone back on to the bedside table, rolling on to his side and shutting his eyes. One way or another, when Lizzy returned to Longbourn, he would reunite with her. After all, she had fallen for his charms before, he was sure that with better acting he would be able to win her round once again.

ooOoo

At one o'clock on Sunday, Lizzy and Jane arrived at William's house; handing over some bottles of fizzy and some crisps and went through to the back garden where Charles was on the grill. From what Lizzy had been told by her older sister, Jane and Charles had gone on their first date to lunch and an early afternoon cinema trip and the two had formed a deep connection. It was nice, to see Jane so happy as she watched her sister walk over to Charles and place a kiss on his cheek. She sat next to Georgiana, chatting with her a little more and getting to know William's little sister.

It turned out that Georgiana attended a unisex boarding school in Oxfordshire and was going into her final year there in September and she planned to attend the local sixth form in the village of Lambton after she had concluded her education at boarding school. Georgiana didn't know what she wanted to do for a career, she was torn between studying law like her father and mother had or taking an art course to become a graphics designer. Both were good career choices and Lizzy advised that she still had plenty of time to work out what she wanted to spend her life doing.

William asked her to come into the kitchen so that he could have a word with her in private to which she excused herself and followed him and shut the door behind her. He gestured for them to enter the living room where they both sat down on the sofa.

"Lizzy, I know it's very early on for both of us but I need to talk to you about something important." he muttered.

She squeezed his hand, "What is it?"

He took a breath, "We've both opened up about our pasts, well you know what happened with Lucy and I know what happened with you. My father is trying to track down the man responsible for my sister's death and I'd like to ask you the name of the boy who caused your accident."

Lizzy blinked, wondering why he would ask her but she didn't ask him why.

"George Wickham."

William nodded and let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you, it's been playing on my mind for a while. The situations are so similar between you and my sister. Was the George who caused your accident punished?" he asked.

Lizzy nodded, "Well it was hardly a punishment as such, community service and a victim surcharge as well as court costs. I haven't seen him since the trial." she replied.

"We never found the man who caused my sister's accident. My father has hired a new private investigator to try and track him down." Will muttered.

She looked into his eyes, "I'm sure that they will find him eventually. Karma will come back and bite this guy in the backside." Lizzy tried to assure him.

He nodded, kissing her lightly when they were interrupted by Charles.

"Alright lovebirds, time to eat some burgers and hotdogs!" he said brightly.

Lizzy laughed as they went back outside to join the others. It was nice of William to talk to her about what had been bothering him, it made her feel more...connected to him. The two were opening themselves up to each other and she only hoped that this was just the beginning for them.

* * *

 **A/N:** Some of you have asked that I keep angst levels low, whilst I'll try my best I will warn you on future chapters. I have a plot outline for each chapter and this story will be a very long one, so far I have plot lines up to chapter 39 but what I will promise you now is that everything will work out in the end. The next chapter will see a time jump to a few weeks later to the end of July where their relationship goes to the next level.

I also want to have a go at writing a Lizzy/Darcy Regency fic, I already have a plot line or two in mind and while I'm trying to do my research into the regency era I would really appreciate some advice or knowledge from others. If you would like to help me in this regard, I'm going to allow PM's on my account once more. Please feel free to inbox me if you have some advice in regard to a regency fic and I'll tell you of my plot ideas.

Also posting tomorrow :) As always, please review.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews so far, in reply to the one who pointed out a few things to me, Mrs Younge is GW's foster mother not his case worker but I will bear your advice in mind. As always, please review this one and let me know your thoughts.

* * *

One week in France hadn't been long enough for Lydia's liking. It had been a good experience to go with the school for a week but she would have much preferred it to be just her and George in Paris for a few weeks. She had missed George like mad and texting wasn't the same as being able to see him, even the phone sex wasn't the same. Her friends were envious of her, they all knew and listened to her boasts about dating an older man and as far as they were concerned, her parents had granted permission for the man to date their daughter.

During her week in Paris they had seen countless museums with boring artwork, dined at restaurants where she hated the food and the only thing she had liked was the fact that the class had managed to have the opportunity to go up the Eiffel Tower. One the other hand, she had 'gotten lost' from the group when they went shopping and used the money that George had given to her to buy some sexy lingerie that she had worn in the privacy of her hotel room and skyped with him on the laptop; the best part about the trip in her opinion, although she neglected to tell her family that.

Her return to Longbourn was as expected, her mother fawned over her when she stepped out of her father's car and Mr Bennet returned to the privacy of his library. Lydia told her family about what France had been like, what she had seen and done during her week there but only Kitty and their mother were interested because Mary, who had returned from university for the summer, instantly went back to playing the family piano.

"Oh Lydia my love, you're so lucky to have seen France, I've only ever been to Spain." Mrs Bennet said dreamily.

"Mum it was a really good way to spend a week. I think Dad should take us back there before I go back to school in September."

"I don't think so." Mr Bennet replied, entering the living room.

"But Thomas, you should take us all on a family holiday. Lizzy comes back from Portsmouth in a few weeks and Jane is off from work. Mary's home from university-"

"I would much rather stay here." Mary interjected.

"Hold your tongue, who asked you?" Mrs Bennet snapped.

"Franny, as much as I would like to go on holiday, I already have enough silly talk when we are at home. If I were to go on holiday, it would be alone to escape the women's talk that I receive on a daily basis." Mr Bennet replied.

Just then, Lydia's phone alerted her to a text message that she had just received.

 _Are you back yet my LL x_

 _Just got back, miss u loads x_

 _Miss u 2, wanna meet up? x_

 _Give me 15 mins and I'll meet u by school x_

"Mum, is it okay if I go out for a bit?" Lydia asked.

"Of course my dear, you'll have missed that lovely lad of yours." Mrs Bennet replied.

"So much, I need to see him." Lydia smiled.

Mrs Hill took Lydia's luggage upstairs to start unpacking the suitcase as Lydia grabbed her phone and keys and headed out of the house. She saw a few of her friends from school who hadn't been able to go on the trip to France but she didn't stop to talk to them, she would have plenty of chances to do that when she returned to school on Monday. Once she reached the lane that took you in the direction of the high school, she saw George walking towards her. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she ran towards him, jumping up at him and hugging him tightly. George chuckled lightly in her ear as he set her to her feet.

"I take it you missed me?" George asked.

Lydia nodded, "Of course I did. I longed to be with my man rather than stuck on a school trip with boys."

"Boys?"

"Well..yes..there were boys on the trip but nothing happened-"

"I should hope not. You know how risky our relationship is Lydia, I could be thrown out of the army and not to mention your family would disapprove of us. You don't want to upset me do you?"

Lydia shook her head, "I'm sorry-"

"Am I the only one taking risks here? Should we end it and go our separate ways? Lydia, if we're going to be together then you need to stop talking to these boys, show me that you're loyal only to me." George stated harshly.

Lydia blinked and took him by the hand, leading him into a meadow that was surrounded by thick, oak trees. She pushed him up against one of them, knowing that they were shielded from the view of the lane and kissed him fiercely. Her hands wandered down to his belt buckle and slowly untied it. George groaned as she continued to kiss him and unzipped his jeans and stroked him to full hardness. Lydia broke away from the kiss, falling to her knees and leaning forward to take him into her mouth; showing him just how loyal she was to him and him alone.

ooOoo

"You better have some news for me." Caroline muttered into her phone.

"If you check your email, Miss Bingley, then you'll see my recent findings on this Eliza Bennet that you detest so much."

Caroline clicked on to the email tab on her laptop, scanning through to see an email from her private investigator. When she opened it, she clicked the download option of the files attached to the email and scanned through, there were pictures of her kissing Will Darcy which made her jealousy fuel even more, a few pictures of her with another man eating a meal, a few pictures of her and a few women sharing drinks, a few of her arriving and leaving Darcy's house and then she came across the medical records and criminal records for Eliza Bennet.

"She was involved in a car accident?" Caroline asked.

"She was," the PI confirmed, "A pretty bad one too by the look of it, she was comatose and broke some bones and needed therapy. According to her police statement, it was a boyfriend who was the cause of it."

"Thank you, you've done well."

"I always do well. Now, there's the matter of my payment."

"You'll get a bank transfer in the next twenty-four hours." Caroline promised.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Miss Bingley."

The phone call came to an end as she looked through the case files of the car accident, reading the name that she had heard quite often when she had been a guest at Pemberley. It amazed her how much of a coincidence it was. Caroline flicked through her phone contacts until she came to the one who would be quite interested in her findings.

"Hello?" a man's voice asked.

"Mr Darcy, it's Caroline Bingley. I have some information that you may find quite relevant to your family."

"Information?"

"Yes, information," she repeated, "I'll have it emailed to you within the next ten minutes."

ooOoo

"Hey Lizzy, how was the open today?" Charles asked.

"Not too bad, I'm just glad my shift is over." Lizzy replied with a tiny yawn.

Charles chuckled, "Will's in the kitchen on the phone to his dad. I'll see you later." he said.

"Bye Charles."

Her boss left the house as she put her bag down and took off her shoes, listening to the argument that William was clearly having on the phone with his father.

"Dad, it's none of your business who I date. I was going to tell you in my own time."

He hadn't told his father about their relationship yet? She didn't know why that bothered her slightly.

"Why would I? She's a gold digging attention seeker, she makes me uncomfortable."

Her heart pounded faster, was Will talking about her? If so, why was he talking about her like that? She had not once talked about his money because it didn't phase her.

"Dad, we'll talk about this later. I have to go because she should be here by now. Goodbye."

Lizzy entered the kitchen to see William placing his mobile phone on to the kitchen counter, looking a little annoyed.

"Hey Lizzy." he greeted, walking towards her.

He bent down to kiss her but she moved her head so that his lips grazed her cheek. William looked at her in confusion until she stepped away from him. She had to know why he had said those things about her.

"So I'm a gold digging attention seeker? I make you uncomfortable do I?" she asked.

His eyes widened, "You heard that?"

"Of course I heard it! I thought you liked me, why would you say that? I've not once insinuated that I'm with you because I want access to your bank account, I have a job William, I have my own money and I pay my own way for everything I want-"

"You're getting the wrong end of the stick!"

"Am I?"

"I was talking about Caroline Bingley if you must know. My father thinks I should be with someone like her and I said those things about her, not you. I haven't told my father about us because of his ideas that I should be dating someone from a similar background to mine-"

"Well I'm not sorry that I didn't attend Cambridge university and I'm not sorry that I work in a cafe. I thought these things didn't matter to you-"

"Lizzy, they don't matter. Just because my father has an idea in his head that I should be dating someone who went to a top university or comes from a similar family situation doesn't mean that he's right. I like you, I think you're amazing. I love the fact that you insist on paying for our dates, I love the fact that you want to work hard. I love the fact that you've graduated now and that we've been dating for six weeks. I love the fact that you're not afraid to tease me or stand up for yourself when you think I've insulted you or think I've lied to you about what I think you're like. In time, my father will meet you and see you for how amazing you are." William explained.

Her heart melted at his speech that she instantly regretted having a go at him for what she had heard on the phone. He welcomed her into his arms and kissed her forehead. Their relationship was progressing and this had been their first disagreement but it seemed to be instantly sorted. In the last six weeks they had gotten closer with their intimacy, they had touched each other and brought each other pleasure, talking more and sharing details of their lives that it felt she and Will had been together a lot longer than what they had; although they were yet to sleep together for the first time. Will was adamant that it wouldn't go beyond touching for now because he wanted them both to know each other properly before they took that step.

"I'm sorry." she mumbled into his chest.

He laughed lightly, "Don't be silly, I would have thought the same thing."

"Will, I don't want to be an argument between you and your father."

"You aren't. He needs to accept that my girlfriend is a waitress and qualified support worker and that I want to be with her even if she didn't attend Cambridge like I did."

"You know how to say the right thing." she whispered, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him.

William deepened the kiss, lifting her up on to the table as her legs locked around his waist and he leaned over her; kissing her with more hunger as his hands slipped underneath her work shirt and cupped her breasts over the bra she wore. Lizzy felt her breathing quicken as he broke away from her mouth and slipped one of his hands into her shorts.

"Will...we shouldn't...not here." she panted as she felt his fingers rub over the wet material of her underwear.

He grinned at her devilishly, "Why not?" William asked, innocently.

Lizzy groaned as he pulled her underwear to the side and shoved a finger inside of her; making her jolt. His hand that covered her breast pulled back the material of her bra and began to massage her gently.

"Will..." she moaned, rocking her hips in time with his fingers.

The things he was doing to her, making her squirm and writhe against him as he leaned forward that she lay completely on the table. His thumb began to circle around the small bundle of nerves that she started to feel those waves of pleasure in the pit of her abdomen began to build and crash until he released himself from her and was no longer touching her. She looked up at him, glaring that she was unsatisfied. Lizzy clung to him as he lifted her from the table and walked her through to the living room where she was laid gently on to the sofa. Soon, he was kissing her again; harder and more fiercely than he had done in the kitchen. Her hands slipped into his jeans and then his boxers. Will broke away from her mouth, closing his eyes and letting out a pleasurable moan as she stroked him to full hardness.

"Lizzy..." he breathed.

It was that moment that she decided she was ready, six weeks and she had come far in their relationship. She trusted him completely, he drove her wild and made her feel safe. He was beginning to fill a place in her heart that had previously been unoccupied and she didn't want to wait any longer. In a way, she felt surprised that she was feeling ready this soon because at the start of their relationship, she had believed that it would be a while before she and William would have taken that step. He looked down at her as she stopped stroking him.

"What is it?" he asked, concern present in his voice.

Lizzy released him and cupped his face with both hands, "I'm just lucky to have met someone like you. I never felt this way about George or Oliver, you make me feel alive when you touch me the way you do. You make me feel safe whenever we spend any sort of time together. I want you, Will, all of you." she whispered against his lips.

Will's eyes widened, "You mean..."

She nodded, kissing him lightly, "How long is Leonard going to be out with Mrs R?" she asked quietly.

"A few more hours." he replied.

Lizzy smiled, "Take me to bed, Will." she said softly.

He kissed her again, not as fierce as the others but more tenderly, "Are you sure?" he asked her when he pulled away.

"I'm ready for the next step if you are."

William didn't need any more persuading that that. He lifted her from the sofa, kissing her as he climbed her stairs with her in his arms and the two spent that Saturday afternoon making love for the first time.

ooOoo

Will laid in his bed with Lizzy wrapped up in his arms next to him, she was dozing lightly; her brown waves a mess from their love making. She had been worth the wait, the buildup in their touching over the previous two weeks had been enough for him but to hear her say that she wanted to be with him in all ways made his heart melt in happiness. It didn't feel that their relationship was only six weeks old, it felt like they had been together for a long period of time because they knew each other well. He knew the way he felt about her, he hadn't felt this way about Eleanor in the beginning of his relationship with his ex-girlfriend. If anything the physical aspect of his relationship with Eleanor hadn't been what he had felt with Lizzy. With Lizzy, he felt the fireworks everytime he kissed her as he moved slowly in and out of her. He felt the loving look in her eyes which matched his own, he felt the same pleasure as she had and it was as they had climaxed together and after he had been able to think straight that he knew he couldn't live without her now.

Was he falling for her so short a time? _Yes,_ he already knew that answer. But it was too soon to say those three little words to her, even though she had told him how she felt about him. Lizzy was a rare gem that he never wanted to let go. So he watched her, lying next to him; breathing slowly in her light slumber until he saw the time was nearly five in the evening and Leonard and Mrs R would be returning to the house soon. Lizzy stirred next to him, opening her eyes and giving him a small smile.

"How long have I been sleeping?" she asked.

"About an hour." he replied.

"How are you?"

"I'm perfect, you're perfect."

She smiled, "I wouldn't go that far-"

"Oh Lizzy, you are more than what I ever imagined."

"Worth the six week wait?"

He laughed, kissing her forehead, "Definitely worth the wait." he replied.

"We should get up." Lizzy said, not bothering to move as she said the words.

"Mhhmm we should," William agreed, "Mrs R and Leonard will be back for dinner, would you like to stay?"

"If I'm not intruding." she replied quietly.

He looked down at her, "Don't be silly, I'd love to have you here as long as possible."

The two of them left the bed, pulling on each other's clothes before tidying their appearances and headed downstairs where they put on a movie. They snuggled up together, her feet lazily resting over his when the front door opened and Mrs Reynolds and Leonard came into the living room.

"Hi Uncle Will, Hi Lizzy." Leonard greeted.

"Hi Leo, have fun today?" Lizzy asked.

"Mrs R took me to the Blue Reef Aquarium and I touched a crab and a starfish!"

"Wow!" said Lizzy enthusiastically, "I wish I could have done that."

"Maybe Uncle Will would take you sometime?"

"I'm going to make a start on dinner, are you staying Elizabeth?" Mrs Reynolds asked.

"Yes please." Lizzy replied.

Mrs Reynolds smiled before making her way into the kitchen and Leonard sat beside Lizzy, showing her the leaflets he had brought home with him from the Aquarium, showing her the animals that he had seen in the leaflet and telling her a little bit about them. William watched his girlfriend and his nephew, smiling to himself when he found himself right; Lizzy was amazing, the way she was with Leonard was remarkable. In the last six weeks, Lizzy and Leonard had developed an attachment to each other which Eleanor had never done when he had been with her and he was all the more determined to keep Lizzy around, she was making them both happier in their lives.


	13. Chapter 13

William woke up that morning to see that today was the day that marked the four year anniversary of Lucy's death. Four years without his sister, four years that Leonard had been without his mother. Lucy would have been so proud of her son, he was a polite and charming little boy who had been raised well, even if he hadn't been raised with a mother like he deserved. He kicked the duvet back from the bed and had a quick shower before heading downstairs, where he saw Leonard sitting in the living room with the TV flashing before his eyes.

"Leo?" Will asked.

The boy didn't stir, he sat in silence as he watched his cartoons. This was the second year in a row that he had found his nephew to be silent on the anniversary of his mum's death. The year before Reginald Darcy had explained to Leonard properly what had happened to his mother and the boy had been devastated to find out what kind of person his unknown father was.

"Leonard, talk to me."

His nephew briefly looked up, "I wanna go to my mum's grave, Uncle Will."

"Leonard, your mum is buried at Lambton. It would take us a while to get there but I think we should remember your mum another way." Will suggested.

"How?"

"Why don't you write her a letter?"

"A letter?"

"A letter." Will repeated.

Leonard looked confused, "Uncle Will, how can I write a letter to my mummy if she's not here to read it?"

William gave his nephew a small smile, "Because I have a plan, now why don't you go and write it with Mrs Reynolds while I pop out and get a few things?"

The boy switched off the TV and hurried into the kitchen to find Mrs Reynolds. William left the living room and left the house once his shoes were on and laces were tied. He got into his car and switched on the engine as he started to drive to Commercial Road to get the few things he needed to get. Today had always been a day where they had spent the day not united as a family because he, Leonard, Frank, Georgiana, his father and even the household staff all grieved for Lucy differently and whilst he always made sure he was there if Leonard needed him, this year they were going to do something a little bit different to remember the woman who was cruelly taken before her time.

ooOoo

"Lizzy?" Jacob asked.

"Yes Jake?"

"Are you leaving me?"

Lizzy looked down at Jacob as the two of them finished their ice-creams. She only had a few more days that she was in Portsmouth for a few weeks. Charles had hired a temporary replacement because William wanted to take her to Pemberley to meet his family after she had spent a week or two with her own and because he wanted her to celebrate his own birthday and Leonard's birthday with them.

"I'm not leaving you for good, I'm just going on holiday for a little while." Lizzy said honestly.

"Is this goodbye?" Jacob asked.

"For now but I'll see you again when you go back to school because I'll be going with you, remember?"

Jacob nodded, she had asked Elaine if she could spend one day with him before her trip back to Longbourn and although they had only been out to the park, kicked a football about for a little bit and bought them both an ice-cream, so far it had been a good day out and Jacob had been on his best behaviour.

"I remember," Jacob replied, "I think it's good."

Lizzy smiled and ruffled his hair, "I think it's good too. Do you think you'll like your new school?" she asked.

Jacob shrugged, "I don't like school. I wish I didn't have to go."

"I know but soon you'll be grown up and you won't need to go to school any more."

"I'll be eight in October, on Halloween." Jacob informed her.

Lizzy smiled again, "That's a very big boy age, isn't it?"

"Can we always be friends Lizzy?"

The way Jacob asked her that question touched her heart, she shouldn't really have a close attachment with a boy she was supposed to be a support worker to in five weeks time but she couldn't help it. She couldn't explain why she felt connected to Jacob but perhaps it was because of her experience with George and how much progress that Jacob had made since she had begun her placement in the children's home that made her proud of the seven-year-old. Jacob was rarely getting into fights or into trouble at his old school and he was co-operating with the children at the home who were being taught on how Jacob saw the world and the other children were becoming a little more patient with Jacob and leaving him alone if he was having a bad day instead of winding him up like they used to.

"Of course we can Jacob, I'll always be a friend if you need one." Lizzy promised.

The boy smiled and got up from the bench and dragged Lizzy to her feet as he kicked the ball across Victoria Park and gestured for Lizzy to go and get it. Lizzy laughed in delight as she ran after the speeding ball. An afternoon in the park with Jacob was the perfect way for the two of them to say their goodbyes for now.

ooOoo

It was almost mid afternoon by the time Will returned to the house. Leonard was kicking his football in the back garden as Mrs Reynolds told him that the letter that she and Leonard had written to Lucy was finished as Will revealed a balloon made up with helium in the colour of pale pink, a hole puncher and a piece of string. He called Leonard into the kitchen and told him that they were going to the common. Leonard looked confused as to why he had to take the letter with him but they left the house, walking along the seafront until they reached the common and picked a spot by the war memorial.

"Do you want to read your letter out loud?" William asked.

"Why? My mummy can't hear me." Leonard replied, still confused.

"Just because she's not here in person, doesn't mean she's never with you."

"But I'll sound silly."

"Would you like me to read it?"

Leonard nodded, taking hold of the balloon and the other items as Will took the letter written in Mrs Reynolds handwriting.

 _Dear Mummy,_

 _I remember you used to play with me in the garden and you shared chocolate with me when I wasn't supposed to have it. I remember your yellow hair that smelled like the flowers at Pemberley and I remember you used to read me a story at bedtime. But you're not here any more Mummy, you were taken away four years ago and I'm sad that I don't have a Mummy any more. But Uncle Will says that I do have a Mummy and just because you're gone, doesn't mean I don't have one. I miss you Mummy, lots and lots and I wish that you hadn't gone in that car. I wish that you could read me those stories and share more chocolate with me. I love you Mummy, love Leo._

It was only a short letter but it made him surprised that his nephew could remember those specific things about Lucy. It was evident that although Leonard was yet to turn two when Lucy had died, he remembered his mother and that brought a tear to his eye.

"That was lovely Leo." Will said quietly.

"Will she know I wrote a letter?" Leonard asked.

He smiled at his nephew and placed the letter in the envelope and took the hole puncher and string from Leonard before punching a hole into the envelope and threading the string through the hole. William chucked the hole puncher on the grass and tied the letter to the string of the balloon that Leonard still held.

"If we send this balloon up the the sky, your mummy will know we sent her a letter." Will said.

"Really?"

"Your mummy is in heaven now where she can see us but we can't see her. She is always with you Leo, she lives on through you."

"I don't understand."

William smiled, "One day, you will." he promised.

On the count of three, Leonard released the balloon and the two looked up at the clear blue sky as the pale pink balloon drifted upwards and upwards until they could no longer see it. When the balloon was out of sight, Leonard wrapped his arms tightly around William's waist and the two hugged each other tightly, releasing a few silent tears as they remembered Lucy Catherine Fitzwilliam.

ooOoo

August came around rather quickly for Lizzy's liking. Although a part of her was excited to be returning to her family home for the first time in eight months, she was dreading the week alone with her mother defending Lydia as she did every time she returned home. Lydia always got what she wanted and Lizzy hated listening to her mother and father argue of her mother's favouritism just as much as she hated the petty squabbles that sometimes occurred between Lydia and Kitty. Two nights before her departure she was on the phone to William.

"Mrs Reynolds has gone on ahead to Netherfield with Charles and Leonard, I have a few things to finish up here. Do you want to travel together?" William asked.

"I was getting the train up." Lizzy replied.

"It's up to you but the offer is there, I understand your fear of cars."

She sighed heavily, "Anything over an hour I freak out because of what George did to me. Ninety minutes away from home and being left for dead makes you the way I am today." Lizzy explained.

"You have to overcome it sometime."

"I know, I hope I will, one day."

"The offer if there if you need it. If you don't show up at my doorstep by nine in the morning then I'll leave you to get the train as you originally planned. I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of your family, your father seemed quite nice when I met him at graduation."

"I just hope he hasn't told my mother about you yet unless Jane already has." Lizzy said in dread.

"Is your mother really that bad?" William asked.

"You'll see for yourself."

The phone call ended and she just laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Was her fear of cars after all this time irrational? It had been nearly four years since her accident, four since George had left her for dead. Two months before her eighteenth birthday, not entirely how she had wanted to spend the build up to her birthday. She had no apology, no real sense of justice made but it left her the person she was today; unable to trust getting into a car with any man, no matter how well or how little she knew them. If she was in a car for more than an hour she would do what always happened, she would have a panic attack and the car would have to be pulled over where she could get out of the car and not feel claustrophobic. She was scared that she was going to get into another accident but everyone around her had been telling her the same thing for the past three years: _You have to overcome your fear sometime._

So at eight o'clock the following morning she left her flat, suitcases packed and her heart beating fast in her chest from how nervous she felt. She didn't stop walking until she stood on Will's driveway half an hour later, watching as he put his own luggage into the back of his land rover. When he shut the boot and saw her stood there, he let out a sigh of surprise.

"I wasn't expecting you." he admitted when they finally stood a gap apart.

"Be patient with me, that's all I ask."

"You're nervous aren't you?"

Lizzy nodded, "Extremely nervous. And scared." she replied.

William cupped her face tenderly, "We can take this trip as long as you want. We'll stop at every stop if you need to and I won't go over the speed limit. I promise you, nothing will happen to you under my care." he vowed.

She gave him an assuring smile as he took her suitcase and put it into the boot with her own. Next, he took her hand and opened the passenger door to her where she slid in and buckled her seatbelt. Feeling her heart rate increase as Will got into the driving seat and buckled his own seatbelt, she took deep, slow breaths as he placed a hand on her knee. William put her postcode into the satnav before turning to her.

"Are you ready?" William asked her.

After a few minutes of trying to calm her heart rate, she turned to him and nodded. He smiled at her, putting the key into the ignition and starting the engine. With one last look at William's house, she tore up her train ticket and they began their journey to Longbourn.

ooOoo

If William had learned one thing about today, it was that his girlfriend was truly brave and incredible. He couldn't imagine the ordeal she had been through at seventeen but it was enough to know that it had a terrible impact on her that she had to use trains as her method of travel to get to Meryton whenever she wanted to go home for a visit. He kept to his promises, he didn't go over the speed limit and he kept to the slow lane as much as he could, they stopped at practically every services along the motorway so that she could have a breath of fresh air and on the few times she got a little bit panicky, he took hold of her hand and assured her that everything was okay. The progress she had made today said a lot of her bravery and he was happy to be the one to be there for her incase she wanted to freak out.

They finally arrived in the village of Meryton after lunch time and they had decided to head straight for Longbourn; he didn't want to spend more time with Caroline than he had to. At least he was only staying at Netherfield for a week before he, Mrs Reynolds, Leonard and the Bingley's would be travelling to Pemberley for two weeks. A part of him was looking forward to Lizzy getting to know his family, as far as he knew, Frank would be coming home at some point for Leonard's birthday.

When they pulled up on the gravel driveway, he stared up at the little country manor. It seemed like Lizzy's family did have a tiny estate and the house looked like it held a lot of memories by the way Lizzy stared up at the windows fondly. Giving her hand one last little squeeze, they both got out of the car just in time for Lizzy's father and five women to step out of the house.

"Lizzy?" Mr Bennet asked, slightly confused.

William got her suitcase out of the car just as she hugged each of her family tightly. He greeted Jane with a kiss to the cheek and said that Charles had invited him to stay at Netherfield, the smile on Jane's face at the mention of Charles's name told him that the two of them must be as happy as he was with Elizabeth.

"And who is your friend Elizabeth?"

"Mother, this is William Darcy. He's my boyfriend. William, this is my mother, Francine Bennet, you know Jane. My sisters Mary, Kitty and Lydia."

He shook hands with each of the Bennet women before shaking Mr Bennet's hand in greeting. He had met Lizzy's father when Lizzy had officially graduated from university a few weeks previously and so far, he liked her father. They went into the house, finding himself surprised that the Bennet family kept staff when, what he assumed to be the housekeeper named Mrs Hill, took Lizzy's luggage upstairs before everyone else entered the living room. Only Lizzy and Will remained in the hall.

"Well, so far so good." he muttered with a smile.

Lizzy rolled her eyes, "You haven't seen anything yet." she warned in a whisper, and the two of them followed her family into the living room.

ooOoo

They had been sat in the living room only for a few minutes as Lizzy caught up with her family. He watched as the youngest, Lydia, was showing his girlfriend her art and design work that she had been given an 'A' on by her examiner and had been allowed to keep said project once the assessment had been concluded. Lydia, was quite talented with art and design it seemed and so far, hadn't shown any silly behaviour. Oh how wrong he had been. Kitty spoke to Lizzy about her army boyfriend, Marcus Denny his name was. Apparently this Denny was eighteen and 'rather sweet' to which Lizzy said she was happy for her sister. Mary, the bookish one, sat at the family piano playing a piece of music by Mozart.

Shortly after their arrival to Longbourn, Mrs Hill announced that lunch was being served in the dining room. The family all rose and walked to the dining room, William took his seat next to Elizabeth and helped himself to some cold pasta and salad, watching how the others interacted with each other. Mr Bennet sat in silence, he guessed the man had managed to tone out the gossipy talk that his youngest two daughters were currently sharing about some girl named Isobel who was a friend of Lydia's and one of the local boys from Meryton. Mrs Bennet was just like her youngest two daughters, adding her own thoughts to the gossips that her daughters were talking about, which to William made it seem that the matriarch of the Bennet family would give anything to be young again. Mary, sat in silence, reading a book and occasionally offering her own thoughts when she took an interest in the conversation. Jane, on the other hand, was happy to converse with Lizzy and William and made him feel comfortable, that was until the younger two Bennet sisters decided it was time to start an interrogation of sorts.

"William, do you have any sisters?" Kitty asked.

"Yes, two. My sister Lucy died when I was nearly twenty-one, my sister Georgiana is fifteen."

"Any brothers?" Lydia asked, batting her eyelashes.

"Yes, an older one. He's enlisted into the army." William replied.

"In the army!" Lydia gushed.

He had no idea that some of Lizzy's family could be so inquisitive, especially the way that Lydia gushed about Frank being in the army. Clearly she liked a man who went into the army, perhaps she was one of those girls who like the stereotype but having known a little bit about the things that Frank had seen in his years of service, it wasn't just about the look and the idea, there was a sense of duty and a lot of the time Frank felt emotionally drained from the things he had seen. To avoid answering more questions, he turned his attention to Jane who was sat opposite him.

"So Jane, Lizzy tells me that you're a teacher?" William asked.

Jane nodded, "Yes, mainly seven to eight year old children. I studied my primary education and teaching degree at the University of Roehampton." Jane replied.

"How long have you held a teaching position?"

"I graduated a year ago and luckily managed to get a teaching position at the local primary school in Meryton."

"Yes, my Jane is an excellent teacher. She teaches many of the young children in the village, they adore her. What is it you do, William?" Mrs Bennet interrupted.

"I manage my family's rented properties, I invest in some business ventures. I have a few investments on the stock market-" Will had started to reply, only to be cut across by Lydia asking him another question.

"Where did you grow up? What university did you attend?" Lydia asked.

"I grew up on my family's estate called Pemberley in Derbyshire. I attended Cambridge university."

"So you come from money then? Will your brother be the one to inherit the estate?" Mrs Bennet quizzed.

He felt himself getting uncomfortable, he had believed money to not matter in this day and age, "No. Frank is my adoptive brother and cousin, he and Lucy aren't my blood siblings. My aunt and uncle died and my parents adopted them when we were young."

"Oh Lizzy my dear, you have done well for yourself." Mrs Bennet praised happily.

William looked to Elizabeth who had stopped eating her salad and was shaking her head in disbelief. He wasn't used to such questions and was beginning to see what Lizzy had meant in her multiple warnings of her family. Just by the look on Lizzy's face, this was perfectly normal behaviour coming from her mother.

"Mum, I ask you not to make another comment like that. I don't care about William's money." Lizzy hissed.

"But Lizzy, Mum has a point. It's great that your boyfriend is rich. He can buy you new clothes and jewellery and take you out to posh restaurants-"

"Lydi, stay out of this!" Lizzy snapped, glaring at her youngest sister.

"Don't talk to your sister like that, Elizabeth!" Mrs Bennet yelled.

"Mrs Bennet, your daughter has not once asked me to use my money for anything in the time that we've been together." William stated.

"And how long have you been dating my daughter?" Mrs Bennet quizzed.

"Nearly two months." William replied.

"Well Lizzy, you need to keep hold of this one. Goodness knows how you attracted someone decent, you're hardly the prettiest of my daughters and sometimes you're quite boyish with your walking and wild nature. Goodness me, those other boys you've dated are-"

William felt himself getting angry as he threw down his knife and fork. How could a mother make such harsh comments about her own daughter? Lizzy was white as a sheet, Jane reached across the table to take hold of Lizzy's hand in comfort, the only person to do so in her family unit. Everyone else just carried on, Mary continued to read her book as Mr Bennet continued to eat, whilst Lydia and Kitty looked at Mrs Bennet then to him repeatedly. He wasn't going to stand for this.

"Mrs Bennet, I will not sit at your table and eat a meal with you if you insist on insulting me. By making harsh comments about your own daughter, you insult me. Elizabeth is the most incredible woman I've ever met. She doesn't care about my family's wealth and she is willing to spend time with my nephew when my past girlfriends wouldn't have bothered. Elizabeth may be a waitress, she may walk a lot and be 'boyish' but those are the reasons why I'm with her. Lizzy is kind hearted and amazing. Today, she was going to get the train to Meryton but instead she faced her long term fear of cars and made the journey with me in my car, that's how incredible she is and I couldn't be more prouder of her." William snapped.

He looked down at Lizzy who was smiling in gratitude at him as she lightly squeezed his hand. Mrs Bennet looked taken aback, clearly nobody had ever spoken to her in this way before. Mr Bennet looked between his wife and the man who his daughter was dating, not saying a word as he had done the entire lunch. Deciding that he had spent enough time at Longbourn for one day, he rose from his seat and thanked the Bennets for lunch but he had to get to Netherfield to see his nephew and friend. Lizzy rose from her seat and walked him outside to his car.

"I apologise about my family." she muttered, holding his hand.

He caressed her cheek lightly, "I apologise for my outburst but I felt angry about the way she speaks about you." William replied.

Lizzy sighed heavily and shrugged, "I'm used to having a critical mother but whenever she brings up George or Oliver, it makes me upset because she was there with what I went through but she refuses to understand; no matter how many time I try to talk to her about it to make her see my point of view." she replied.

"Your mother should see you for who you are instead of trying to put you down by being horrible about your traits. I love everything about you." William stated.

She blushed slightly, "Thank you for standing up to her, I think it shook her to the core a little bit." Lizzy said, laughing a little at remembering her mother's face at Will's telling her off.

"Just remember how I see you, how I feel about you. You are important to me and to Leo. You've made our lives a little better." William breathed.

"Thank you." she whispered.

With a parting kiss, William got into his car and drove his way back to Netherfield. He hoped that in the future, Mrs Bennet wouldn't be so critical of her daughter and see Lizzy for how remarkable she was, just as he saw her.

ooOoo

When he pulled up in the Netherfield drive, he groaned to himself as he saw the last person he wanted to greet him on his arrival to his best friend's estate. Today, Caroline had opted for a bright fuchsia suit, with white shirt. Why she thought that bright colours suited her, he didn't know but it didn't flatter her in the slightest; especially when she insisted on wearing a feathery headband thing in her red hair. William got out of his car and handed over his luggage to one of the Bingley's household staff and walked over to where Caroline was standing.

"Darcy!" Caroline greeted enthusiastically, "How wonderful to see you again."

"Caroline, thank you for the erm...warm greeting." William replied stiffly.

"We were expecting you earlier, where have you been?"

"I took Elizabeth, my girlfriend, to her family home and had lunch there. Now if you'll excuse me, Caroline, I have to see my nephew and Charles."

She watched as Darcy walked into the manor, greeting Charles in the entrance hall as she followed him. So Darcy was still adamant on continuing his insane ideas? And this Eliza was now his girlfriend?! The man must be having some kind of nervous breakdown and she was all the more determined to save him from ruin. Firstly, she would have to make him see sense when they travelled to Pemberley next week that Eliza was no good for him, she had passed on her files on Eliza to his father so no doubt that father and son had had a little chat by now. Well, she could only hope that Darcy would leave Hertfordshire in a week feeling angry and she would be the one to comfort him.

When Darcy and her brother were out of sight, she pulled out her phone and sent the following message:

 _The Bennet girl is back at Longbourn, thought you should know._

Two minutes later, as she was sat in the living room with Louisa, her phone beeped.

 _I'm glad that we have been of use to each other._

 _Just do your part so that I can do mine._

 _A pleasure, Miss Bingley ;)_

On the other side of Meryton, George Wickham looked down at the text messages from one Caroline Bingley and grinned to himself. Elizabeth Bennet was back at Longbourn, how long for; he didn't know. But he knew that at some point she would be going into Meryton and he would just have to hang around there until he spotted her.

* * *

 **A/N:** Just a head's up, the next chapter is where the story picks up a bit more with the angst. From the next chapter onwards you will see where the story is going but I will promise you that E&D will be okay in the end, no matter if it seems impossible.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, as always they are much appreciated. I'm posting this chapter today instead of Monday because, as told in a previous note, I have an exam in six days so my time starting from tomorrow will be used to revise/prepare for the exam. However, I have written the next chapter but it still needs some finishing touches which I will do after my exam and post next Friday and then we'll be back to the usual Monday posting routine.

Just a warning, this chapter might be a bit angsty for you and the story will have more to come after this chapter, there is a lot more to the Wickham/Lydia plot as well as a few things with Caroline so I hope that you will continue. As I have promised, E&D will be okay come the end of this story.

As always, please let me know your thoughts and enjoy this chapter.

* * *

It was only Tuesday but already, Lizzy was looking forward to travelling to Pemberley with William at the end of the week. Her mother refused to apologise to her about the disastrous lunch with William and on the few times that William had showed up at Longbourn to see her, Mrs Bennet refused to see William and apologise to him. As usual her father dismissed it as _'You know what your mother is like, Lizzy._ ' and William thought that her parents were despicable, although he didn't say that to their faces, yet. Jane was the only one who came to her defense. On the second night of her return to Longbourn, Mrs Bennet had once again stated her reasoning on why Lizzy was a failure for a daughter and Jane said that everyone was different and just because Lydia could do no wrong in her eyes, she shouldn't wish all of her daughters to be the same.

So here it was, Tuesday morning and she was walking into Meryton with William. Tomorrow, Charles had invited the Bennet family round for a barbecue and on Friday she was planning to take Leonard for a walk to show him the places she visited at his age in Meryton and the surrounding countryside.

"I see your mother still refuses to see me." William mused.

Lizzy laughed slightly, taking his hand, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. The relationship I have with my mother is better at a distance. She hates the fact I moved so far away from home for university, she hates the way I look or the things I like to do because I'm not like her and never will be. She tolerates Jane because she's the eldest and Jane sees the best in people with her good nature. Mary is quite aloof so she steers clear of my mother. The younger two, however, are the ones she fawns over."

"I just don't understand how she can be so critical of you." William muttered.

"We argue a lot because of it. I wish she wouldn't sometimes. The reason I don't go home very often is because, although I love her, of my mother." Lizzy replied.

"Have you ever told her that?"

Lizzy shook her head, "No. I don't want to be _that_ cruel." she replied.

"Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind." William stated.

"That may be true."

They continued to walk down the lane in silence, holding the other's hand as they passed a meadow that had a thick layer of trees around it and the grass freshly cut that the smell lingered in the air. Lizzy often sat in this lane in her younger years, climbing the trees or sitting on the grass with a book. Smiling to herself, she strayed from the path and dragged William by the hand into the meadow. When they stopped, she looked up at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He reciprocated by curling an arm around her waist and pulled her closer whilst his free hand cupped her face.

Eyebrow raised, "May I ask what we are doing in a meadow, hidden by trees, Lizzy?" he asked.

"I just wanted a few minutes alone with you, we haven't had any privacy since we came here." Lizzy replied.

"That's not true, don't you remember last night?" William asked with a grin.

Lizzy blushed slightly, the night before she and Jane had been invited to Netherfield for dinner and her boyfriend had offered to give her a tour of the Bingley's home. Only William's definition of a tour started in the library with heated kisses and sly touches and then he swept her up in his arms and carried her to his room where they'd made passionate and rushed love to each other but at the same time making sure that they were quiet about it; the last thing either had wanted was for someone to hear them.

"Besides last night I mean." Lizzy mumbled.

He lifted her face up a little higher and he smiled, knowing that he was smiling at her blush, he leaned down and kissed her. Lizzy returned his kiss sensually and slowly, trying to express how she felt about him as her hands ran through his hair and both of them swaying on the spot as they clung to each other. Will lifted her off the ground with one arm still around her waist until she was at his height level, Lizzy held on to him tighter; their lips locked together and moving in that slow pace that told the other something that their words never could.

Eventually, William pulled away from her and set her back on the ground, keeping hold of her when he felt her unsteady. It was amazing how he could make her feel light-headed and so unfocused of her surroundings that nothing else mattered except for him. Lizzy opened her eyes to see him smiling down at her, his brown eyes warm with that mixture of adoration, devotion, eagerness to protect, that hungry desire for her; it all reflected what she felt about him and she could only hope that he could see how she felt about him.

"We can continue this later, perhaps I could spend the night in your bedroom? I'd like to see what a teenage Lizzy Bennet's room looked like." he whispered, grinning from ear to ear.

Lizzy rolled her eyes, taking hold of his hand as they walked back to the lane, "You want to give my mother something to gossip about? I'll hear no end to it-"

"Well I guess that means that I'll have to sneak back to Longbourn when everyone else is asleep and throw pebbles at your bedroom window." William suggested.

She laughed, "Now I'd pay good money to see you climb the drainpipe."

"If I was successful in doing so, I'd like to have a reward." William whispered, leaning next to her ear so that only she could hear.

Lizzy looked up at him with a mischievous smile, "I'm sure I could think of something to ensure you do." she replied softly.

The two continued to walk into Meryton, stopping in some of the shops so that Lizzy could say hello to some of the people she had grown up with, introducing her childhood friends to William. As they walked round Meryton, William saw a remote controlled helicopter in the window of a toy shop that he said to Lizzy he would catch her up and went into the toy shop. Lizzy walked a little further, until she felt herself being dragged into an alleyway between two of the shops. A hand covered her mouth until she was out of sight of the main path and shuddered when she felt breath against her ear.

"Don't scream, Little Lizzy." a voice whispered into her ear.

Her eyes widened as she turned around, seeing the face of the man who had abandoned her when she needed help the most. Her instant reaction was to slap him but George caught her arm and laughed harshly.

"Get off of me!" Lizzy hissed.

"I just wanted to talk, a little birdy told me you were back."

Lizzy scoffed, "You have some nerve to come back here after what you did to me." she hissed.

"I didn't get to pick and choose what army regiment I was assigned to." George replied.

"I don't believe you."

"I've missed you Little Lizzy, I still love you."

"Get off of me or I'll scream." Lizzy warned.

"Listen to me-"

With that, Lizzy screamed as loud as she could. She hoped that William would hear her or someone working in the two shops that the alley separated would hear her and come to her aid. Luckily within minutes, she saw her boyfriend running down the alleyway and grabbing her into his embrace. He looked down at Lizzy and checked to make sure she was okay. William looked furious after he whispered his question of whether she was okay, when she nodded, he looked away from her to the man who dared to stand there after he had been caught trying to force Lizzy into a situation against her will.

"Stay away from my girlfriend..." Will had started to say but the second his eyes met George's, he released his grasp of Lizzy.

Lizzy looked between the two men, seeing the anger in her boyfriend's eyes for the first time ever.

"Oh this is priceless," George laughed, "Lizzy, you're dating Darcy?!"

"How do you two-"

But her question was unanswered as William lurched forward, grabbing George by the throat and pinning him up against the wall. Lizzy froze to the spot, unsure of what to do.

"You little cockroach! I'm going to kill you." William shouted through gritted teeth.

"Come on Darcy, she got into my car willingly. It's not like I forced her to do it." George tried to reason.

"You killed her! You crashed that car and moved her into the driving seat before running off. You killed my sister!"

It became apparent to Lizzy in that moment. The same man who had caused her own accident had caused the death of William's sister. George simply laughed in amusement and she begged Will to forget about him. As William released George and turned to walk away with Lizzy, George said the completely wrong thing.

"How is my son Darcy?"

She couldn't stop what happened next. William turned round and launched at George, beating him to a bloody pulp. Lizzy couldn't believe what was happening, George Wickham, her ex-boyfriend, was also the ex-boyfriend of Lucy Fitzwilliam and had fathered Leonard? This had to be some cruel joke. She felt angry that George had not only abandoned her but had caused the death of Leonard's mother. That sweet boy couldn't have a father like Wickham?

"George Younge or George Wickham, which one do you go by? Which one is your actual name?" William growled, punching him in the ribs.

Wickham merely laughed, goading William into punching him some more. George's face was starting to bruise and swell from William's beatings and Lizzy felt scared that her boyfriend was capable of this.

"WILLIAM!" she screamed.

Her boyfriend stopped and stood up, releasing George who scrambled from the ground and ran away like the coward he was. William's hands were cut and swollen from where he had repeatedly punched George over and over again. The anger in his eyes still remained and as he tried to move towards her, she backed away. He had frightened her. She hadn't thought him capable of this much violence.

"Lizzy-"

"Stay away from me." she whispered, running from the alleyway.

ooOoo

What had he done?

William fell back against the brick wall and closed his eyes. He had heard Lizzy's screams when he had exited the toy shop, he didn't know why but he knew that she was in trouble and he had to go to her. When he had found her and saw that George Younge, or Wickham as Elizabeth knew him, he felt angry and he couldn't repress that anger. He had acted on impulse, everything this man had done to his sister had done to Lizzy. Wickham was the reason why Leonard didn't have his mother and to hear that scumbag ask how his son was, the son he had never bothered with and didn't deserve to be a father to, made him lash out. William was perfectly prepared to walk away with Lizzy until the man had mentioned Leonard.

Lucy deserved justice, Leonard deserved justice. Wickham deserved to be punished for the death he had caused and escaped from. He was determined not to let Wickham get away with his crimes and so had beaten the man black and blue, the first time in his life that he had been unable to control his anger. But the way that Lizzy had looked at him, scared and wishing he hadn't done what he did, had made him regret doing so. She had told him to stay away from her and had run away.

Had he ruined his relationship with her? He wasn't sure. But William decided to head straight back to Netherfield to clean himself up and give Elizabeth enough time to calm down. But on his return to Netherfield, Charles was waiting outside for him.

"Darcy-"

"Not now Charles." William said impatiently.

"I've just returned from Longbourn."

He stopped in his tracks and turned to his best friend, a look of worry on Charles's face.

"Will, what were you thinking?" Charles asked.

"I wasn't. I just saw the scumbag who was responsible for my sister's death and nearly caused Lizzy's. I just saw the pathetic excuse for a father who left my nephew without his mother. He thought it was amusing. He needed to be taught a lesson." William replied.

"You do realise Lizzy is scared beyond her wits? She was really upset that Jane had to calm her down and when she did, she related the story to me and Jane. This is out of character for you."

"I wasn't thinking, I've never felt so angry before."

"Well get yourself cleaned up and get over to Longbourn as soon as you can. You need to explain to Lizzy what it was all about." Charles said.

The two went into the house, with William hurrying up to his room to freshen up; hoping that Lizzy would allow him to explain the situation and that he could fix this mess.

ooOoo

"Oh dear, you don't look too pretty." Caroline tutted in mock sympathy.

George Wickham looked around and once he saw the two of them were alone on the country lane, he turned to her. Ever since she had met him outside the army base and asked him for his help in return that she wouldn't tell the Darcy family where he was. Of course, she had told him the entire story of how she had hired a private investigator and recognised him from a picture in the case file of the accident; she had seen him on the few occasions that she had stayed at Pemberley in the past.

"Why didn't you tell me that Darcy was the friend you wanted to save?" Wickham snapped.

Caroline gave a wicked smile, "The Darcy family have been wanting your head since you killed their beloved Lucy. When I found out about your connection to Eliza, well, I had to use you to my advantage. The evidence on your face shows that Darcy didn't take the reunion too warmly and from what I've heard at Netherfield, Eliza was scared out of her wits. You've done your part and now I wait to play mine." she replied.

"And what is that exactly?"

"Well if Eliza decides to end her relationship with Darcy then I will swoop in to comfort him. In time, he will see that he should be with me and not that little waitress."

George grinned before wincing in pain, "I hope it goes well for you. I should get back to base." he replied.

"Wickham."

George turned around, "Yes, Caroline?"

"Now that Darcy knows you're here, it won't be long before he tells his father. If I were you, I'd request a transfer as soon as possible to another regiment."

He nodded and turned away, heading back to the base as Caroline took the path that would take her back to Netherfield. Everything would work out for her in the end, she was absolutely positive about that.

ooOoo

Lizzy heard the knocking on the door and the voice of William as Mrs Hill let him into the house. She had been sat in the living room, sitting on the window seat the overlooked her favourite part of the Longbourn gardens. She had been trying to process what she had witnessed happen between Will and George but it scared her to death and she wasn't sure what he was going to say to her. Mrs Hill led him into the living room, shutting the door behind them to give them some privacy. He crossed the room quickly, kneeling in front of her as his eyes met hers.

"Lizzy, I'm so sorry." he whispered.

She saw that he had cleaned himself up a bit but his knuckles remained cut and swollen.

"I didn't know that George was responsible for my accident and Lucy's. It's a small world." she said quietly.

"Lizzy, you have to understand, he used a fake name. He told us that his name was George Younge, he took Lucy out that night and killed her and then he pulled her into the driving seat to make it look like she was responsible and ran for it. For four years, he's escaped justice."

"When did Lucy's accident happen?"

"When she was eighteen, I believe that your accident happened after hers because Lucy is a year older than you."

She nodded and sighed heavily, "I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Seeing you like that William, it frightened me. It wasn't the William that I know. You beat him to a pulp and yes, he may have deserved it, but that doesn't excuse what happened. You wouldn't have stopped and if he goes to the police-"

"If he has any sense then he won't because he knows it will backfire on him."

"But what if he does? You didn't think about the consequences of what will happen to Leonard did you? He's already lost his mother and what if he lost the closest thing he has to a father?"

William fell silent when he realised that she was right. He hadn't thought of Leonard or the consequences of his actions.

"Lizzy, I think we should go to Pemberley sooner than we planned."

"You just want to run away?"

"Not run away, get away from here. Just be together and work-"

"William, I need some time to process this. I think you should go to Pemberley without me."

She knew by the sad expression on his face that he was devastated and she couldn't help but let out a tear which streamed down her cheek. But she knew that she was making the right decision, they both needed some space; it didn't mean that she was breaking up with him.

"What about us?"

"William, I'm not breaking up with you. We both just need a little space, next week I'll get in touch with you but a few days apart after this whole thing with Wickham would do us both some good."

He nodded and leaned forwards, giving her a parting kiss before rising and leaving the sitting room. Lizzy let out a few more silent tears as she turned her attention out of the window, she hoped that in a few days time she would be able to talk through this with William properly and not feel frightened by him but for now, she needed to think about what had happened and what Wickham was going to do next.

ooOoo

William missed her more than anything as they drove from Netherfield to Pemberley. Mrs Reynolds kept herself busy reading a few magazines as Leonard sat in the back asleep with his head against the window, he had fallen asleep watching the rain drops trail down the glass. But as he drove them through multiple stand stills on the motorway, his thoughts always trailed back to Elizabeth. He missed making love to her, he missed her laugh, her wavy brown hair, those hazel eyes that lighted up when she teased him. He missed cuddling up with her while watching the TV and kissing her when they were supposed to be paying attention to said TV. He was utterly miserable and didn't know whether he would be hearing from her any time soon.

His return to Pemberley had been a warm and welcome one, Georgie had flung her arms around him the second they had all stepped out of his car. His father shook his hand and Frank had arrived earlier than expected due to extended leave. Mrs Reynolds was invited to eat dinner with them and was shown to the guest rooms instead of the old one that she had used when she had been working as the Pemberley housekeeper. The employees took their suitcases to their respective suites before Reginald stated that he had something to discuss with his family and asked Mrs Reynolds to take Leonard to the stables to visit the horses. Fitzwilliam followed his brother, sister and father into the sitting room where they all sat down to discuss Reginald's topic.

"Georgiana, you can go and keep your nephew company." Reginald instructed.

"I don't think so, I know you're going to talk to Fitzwilliam about those files you think is connected to Lucy. She was my sister too-"

"You'll do as I say."

"If I leave, Fitzwilliam will tell me later!" Georgiana demanded.

Reginald looked at his son, "Will you now, Fitzwilliam?" he asked

William nodded, "I have no secrets from Georgie, Dad." he confirmed.

Smiling in triumph, Georgiana felt satisfied. William knew that their father wouldn't send her out of the room when he had just said that he would tell her what had been said anyway. The four of them sat down and Reginald cleared his throat.

"Fitzwilliam, you said that you were bringing your girlfriend with you." Reginald stated.

"She's staying with her family, she has a connection to George Younge or George Wickham as she knows him. It turns out that Wickham is in Hertfordshire with an army regiment and-"

"Caused your Elizabeth to have a car accident which nearly killed her. It seems that Younge has a record." Reginald finished.

"How do you know this?"

"Caroline Bingley had a private investigator hired to follow this Elizabeth Bennet. The PI managed to get hold of Elizabeth's private medical and criminal records which she emailed over to Dad." Frank explained.

"That awful woman." Georgiana muttered.

"My sentiments exactly." William agreed, knowing that Caroline was perfectly capable of doing this just to try and cause a wedge between him and Lizzy.

"It won't be long before I have the police head to the army regiment to arrest Wickham. He won't get away with this, not any more." Reginald vowed.

"I forgot to mention that I beat him to a pulp."

They all looked round at him as he raised hi fist to show them the cut and bruises along his knuckles.

"Fitzwilliam!" Georgie scolded.

"He goaded me into it. He laughed and tried talking about Leonard-"

"You better hope, my son, that he doesn't do another runner!" Reginald yelled.

"Dad, if you had been there you would have done the exact same thing." William snapped.

The atmosphere turned a little tense until Frank cleared his throat and turned to face William.

"So why didn't Elizabeth come with you?" Frank asked.

"She got a little frightened by the violence I showed towards Wickham." Will muttered.

"She dumped you?" Georgie asked.

"I don't think so, she just said she needed some space and she'd call me."

"Regardless of your girlfriend, we will get Wickham this time. For Lucy and Leonard's sake." Reginald said, with all three of his children nodding in agreement.

With the discussion of what Reginald decided to do with Wickham out of the way, it was announced that dinner was being served so the family moved to the dining hall to see Mrs Reynolds entering the room with Leonard.

ooOoo

"Lizzy, talk to me." Jane urged softly.

The two sisters sat in the garden on that warm Thursday. It had been two days since she had asked William to return to Pemberley without her and in those two days she had been sat moping. She had missed him terribly and after giving it much thought after talking with Jane, she had come to the conclusion that if she had been in William's situation and Wickham had caused the loss of one of her sisters she would have done the same thing. On the plus side, Wickham remained away from her since his brutal beating from William.

"I'm just thinking, Jane." Lizzy replied.

"About?"

Lizzy looked at her sister, "William."

"You said that you weren't frightened of his actions since you said you would have done the same thing if the situation had been yours instead of his." Jane pointed out.

"It's not that. I think he feels that I've ended our relationship, he hasn't contacted me and I text him yesterday to see if he was okay but he was quite brief."

"Well, how do you feel about him?" Jane asked.

Lizzy blinked, "What do you mean?"

Jane laughed slightly, "Oh Lizzy, I think you're falling for him."

When she thought about Jane's words, her heart fluttered and beat faster. When she thought back to the many arguments that she had with Oliver, she realised that her relationship with William was much better. William had been patient with her. All the times that Oliver had tried to push her into a car to 'help' her overcome her fears, it had ended that relationship. She had taken that step with William . Her feelings, they weren't just deep feelings. She missed him whenever they were apart, she looked forward to spending time with him, she loved the fact that the first time he had made love to her had been mid-afternoon and had made her feel so connected and safe with him. She was in love with him. Just him.

"I think you're right." Lizzy muttered.

Jane smiled, "You love him so all that matters now is, how are you going to tell him?" her sister asked.

"Shit. I asked him to go to Pemberley without me. Would he even want to see me? What if he doesn't feel the same way?" Lizzy asked, panicking a little bit.

"Lizzy, surely you can see how much you've changed from being guarded to taking risks? You got into William's car to make the journey here instead of taking a train, you took a risk with that and with him. Surely it's worth taking the risk?"

"How am I even going to get to Pemberley?"

"Charles is going tomorrow morning. He's coming over to see me in a little while, shall I ask if you can go with him?"

Lizzy nodded, "It's so strange, I used to be so deathly afraid of cars. But now that I've been in one again, I'm not so nervous as I was once." she mused.

Jane smiled in pride, "I'm happy that you no longer feel so scared Lizzy, now you should go and pack." her sister replied.

Lizzy returned her sister's smile and got up, rushing into the house and up the stairs to her bedroom where she began to pack her suitcase. She hoped that Charles would agree to take her to Pemberley and that she wasn't too late to make things up with William.

ooOoo

"George, what's the matter?" Lydia asked for the tenth time in the past hour she had been with him.

He had been pacing a lot lately since his encounter with Darcy, wondering when his time would be up. Lydia had told him that Lizzy had sent William on to Pemberley with some housekeeper and the nephew -his son- and if Darcy hadn't told his family that he was in Hertfordshire, it was only a short time before he would share the location of the most wanted man by the Darcy family. When his thoughts went to the son he had last seen nearly five years ago, who would be turning six soon; not that he remembered the exact date. Leonard, that was his name. Lucy had named him but he wasn't ready to become a father, Lucy should have known better than to get pregnant at such a young age.

All he wanted was Elizabeth, the girl he had met at the age of seventeen. He liked young girls, they had a certain naivety and vulnerability about them which he could use to his advantage. By charming them into thinking he loved them, he made them think that he was the only man that they could rely on and that gave him the pleasure that he craved. Being in foster care for his entire life, that is what he wanted, someone who could rely on him alone. Lizzy and Lucy had relied on him when he had first met them and now, one was dead and the other hated his guts.

Mrs Younge knew everything, she was the only mother figure in his life. He had used her last name as his when he had met Lucy, wanting to forget the pain that the surname of Wickham had brought him his entire life. She had protected him and gave him some money to start over in Meryton, a little village where nobody would have thought to look for him and then he had met Elizabeth. Of course, by the time he had met Elizabeth, he had been forced to revert back to using Wickham for his last name, not wanting to be tracked down by the Darcy family.

"George!" Lydia snapped.

"What?"

"Will you tell me what's wrong!"

He sighed and sat on the bed next to her, "I can't tell you this. I have to protect you from this." he whispered, not actually meaning those words but knowing it was what she wanted to hear; he'd say anything to stop her from nattering the way she did, it bloody annoyed him.

"I'm your girlfriend and I love you. I'm your Little Lydi remember?"

He smiled, "Of course I do."

"So share, maybe I can help."

He sighed again, putting his head in his hands. His life was one big, fuck up. His entire time in foster care, the accidents that he had caused for Lucy and for Lizzy, running away because he only thought of himself, abandoning his own child.

"Someone will be coming after me soon, I've gotten special permission for leave. I've told them that my mother is critically ill and I leave tomorrow morning first thing."

Of course, it was a lie about his mother being critically ill, he had to think up some reason to leave the army so suddenly.

"Oh your poor dear!" Lydia hummed sympathetically.

"I don't know when I'll see you again-"

"But I'll come with you."

He stared at her, biting his tongue from letting out a laugh. Oh she was so naive, she actually thought he would run off into the sunset with her? She actually thought that this 'relationship' that they had was going to last forever? Lydia Bennet actually thought he loved her? It was hard not to laugh and reveal to her now that he had only been sleeping with her and keeping her sweet to get to her sister.

But then again, she was sat here in his bed and willing to do whatever he wanted. If Darcy and his family came for him to get justice for their Little Lucy, then he could run away with Lydia which would hurt Lizzy. And if Lizzy found out why he ran away with Lydia, she would blame Darcy for the mess surely? Because if Darcy had left him alone then Lydia would be able to stay where she was at home.

"I'd love for you to come with me." he replied, kissing her lightly.

Lydia beamed with joy, "I'll pack tonight and sneak away before anybody wakes up. By the time it's been discovered that we've run away to be together, we'll be with your mother. Where does your mother live?" she asked.

"My foster mother will take care of everything. My birth mother lives in Calais, she wants to say goodbye to me one last time and then we can stay in France." George replied.

"I best get home, I have so much to pack!" Lydia squealed.

"I'll be waiting for you by the school at seven o'clock." he smiled.

Lydia climbed out of his bed and began pulling her clothes on, hurrying out of his room and probably straight back to Longbourn. Oh his plan for revenge was too easy, he knew that Darcy would be held responsible for this; if only he and his family had left the whole Lucy thing alone. He lay back on the bed when there was a knock on the door, he didn't answer it until he looked up to see Denny entering the room.

"I heard you've got two weeks leave, something about your mother dying?" Denny asked.

Wickham nodded, "My mother yes, she's not going to live past two weeks so I need to see her before she goes. Arrange the funeral, settle her affairs if you get what I mean?" he replied.

"Sorry mate, I didn't know." Denny muttered.

"Yes, it's quite a shock."

"Do you want me to look after Lydia while you're away?" Denny offered.

"No need for that, her parents have allowed her to come with me."

"Really?"

Wickham nodded, "Yes, apparently it took some persuading but after she said she had to support me and that she would be well looked after, they relented. Her mother adores her and Kitty, practically gives them everything they could ever want." he said.

"Well that was very understanding of them."

"Just don't mention anything to Kitty, apparently she's quite jealous that Lydia gets to go away again and she's stuck here with you." George lied, twisting the knife a little bit.

Denny nodded stiffly, looking annoyed at the last comment that George had made and left his room. George moved from his bed and began chucking his belongings into the suitcase, after a good night's sleep, he and Lydia would be heading to Ramsgate before getting on a ferry at Dover to Calais. That would teach Darcy a lesson.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, it means a lot to me that you are continuing with me on this story. Exam prep and revision are now over for another nine months! Wooohoooo! So as promised, I am posting this week just later than when it should have been done. The next chapter will be out on Monday so you won't have to wait long to find out what happens after this one.

Now try not to hate me too much, Caroline has a little scheme up her sleeves; well you all knew she was trying to achieve something from her previous behaviour and there's more to come with Lydia and Wickham. But as always, and I keep my promises, E&D will be okay in the end.

As always, please leave a review :)

* * *

Caroline arrived at Pemberley ahead of her brother on Thursday night, Charles was coming in the morning because he was determined to spend one last day with Jane Bennet before arriving at Pemberley on Friday. Of course, she had met her brother's girlfriend and thought the woman was quite quiet and shy around others, the complete opposite to Eliza. On the many occasions that Charles had insisted on Jane dining with them at Netherfield and staying over, she had learned that her brother's girlfriend was a year three teacher at the local primary school in Meryton and she was always so polite and kind when she spoke, perhaps she was quite naive. How unfortunate she was to have Eliza for a sister, but then again you couldn't pick and choose who your relations were.

As she pulled her car up on to the Pemberley driveway, she was greeted by Reginald Darcy before she fawned over Georgiana, who welcomed her quite kindly. Frank Fitzwilliam merely gave her a nod of the head before heading out to the stables with Leonard. William Darcy, however, was avoiding her for some strange reason. She had arrived after dinner and watched as Reginald instructed that Frank should have Leonard back in the house before dark so that he got a good night's sleep.

She chatted with Reginald for a while about her files, with the head of the Darcy family stating that he was worried about Fitzwilliam.

"He's been shut up in his suite most of the time he's returned here, that girlfriend of his hasn't contacted him to say if she's coming here after his encounter with George Wickham."

Shut up in his suite? It truly seemed that Darcy had taken this break up rather seriously. But in order to start her work in persuading Darcy that she was a good option for him to move on with, she would have to see how much damage had been done by his separation from Eliza.

"Eliza is nothing special, Reginald, I can assure you of that. She works for my brother at his little cafe in Portsmouth, merely a table and floor scrubber who charmed your son into thinking she was something more. I could see through her act from the very beginning. Perhaps I should head up to his chambers and say hello? Maybe seeing me will give him something to be cheery about?" Caroline suggested.

"I just don't know what to do with him, he's moping and he never mopes. Perhaps seeing you may brighten his spirits." Reginald muttered.

"Well one can only hope." Caroline said sweetly, giving a smile.

The clock chimed nine o'clock before anyone realised, Frank popped his head round the door to say that Leonard had fallen asleep on him and departed after saying goodnight to everyone. Georgiana was next to head up to her own suite, kissing her father on the cheek and yawning at Caroline. Reginald told her that she had her usual suite of rooms when she usually stayed each summer and that the staff had taken up her belongings before stating that William could be found in his own should she wish to see him before retiring for the night.

Perfect. It was just as she had hoped. Eliza had dumped the man and he was wallowing in self pity and sadness, something which she could help with. As she climbed the staircases, past the music room and along the gallery which held many portraits of the Darcy ancestors and came to the family wing which stood behind a series of doors with gold name plaques that had the name of the owner engraved into it. She passed Georgiana's suite and then came to Lucy's which had to have remained empty during the four years since the girl had foolishly killed herself. Next to Lucy Fitzwilliam's were Leonard's and then Frank's before she finally came to Fitzwilliam Darcy's.

She knocked on the door and entered, not caring to wait for him to admit her into his private rooms. All the Darcy's had their own suites made up of a sitting room, a bedroom and a en-suite bathroom, all decorated to the tastes of the person within. Darcy's were simple and cosy with furniture in a chocolate brown, something which she would rectify if she were his wife and had to share these rooms with him. In her mind, she and Darcy would share comfortable and squashy furniture in a nice colour of purple or green and the walls painted in a cream colour so that the guests admitted to their chamber would notice her excellent taste in colour arrangements.

Darcy was sat on his sofa, with three empty bottles of whiskey lay discarded on the floor. He was staring intently at his phone, as if wishing that it would alert him to an incoming call or text message. This is the state he allowed himself to get into over a waitress? She knew it was going to take some time for him to give her a chance but her work would start now; by being there to comfort him over his break up with Eliza Bennet.

"You weren't there to greet me upon my arrival." Caroline said.

Darcy simply grunted, "I didn't feel like it." he mumbled.

"Oh Darcy, it pains me to see you this way." she sighed, walking to him and kneeling in front of him.

He exhaled sharply as her hands went to his chest, the smell of whiskey hit her face but she didn't look at him in disgust, although it did disgust her to some extent. Caroline rubbed her hands over his shirt, feeling his muscled chest beneath and wishing she could rip the shirt from him but there would be time for that in the future. Right now, she wasn't going to bed him in his drunken state, when she did seduce him she wanted it to be with him sober and consumed with desire for her alone.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Comforting you. Eliza has broken your heart, has she not?"

William nodded, "She hasn't contacted me. I think she may have ended it." he replied sadly.

"Oh you poor dear!"

She helped him to his feet, supporting his weight as they moved into the bedroom and he sat on his four poster bed. His shirt stank of whiskey so she helped it off of him before he laid back on his bed and drifted off into sleep; snoring lightly. Oh how sweet he looked when he slept, how manly he looked as he slept. It made her adore him all the more and it was then that a thought went off in her head.

What if she just lay next to him and slept by his side during the night? He was drunk and might not remember their conversation the next morning? What if when they woke up and he asked what happened the night before, she could say that they had been talking and that she wanted to stay with him to ensure that he would be okay? Wouldn't that show her devotion to him? Wouldn't it be a start in showing Darcy that they would be perfect together if she had stayed next to him the entire night because she cared for him? Surely Darcy would see that he should give her a chance?

Shredding herself of her green dress and hair accessories, she lay next to him in a silk chemise that she always wore underneath her clothes. For a few moments, Caroline listen to the soft breaths of Darcy in his sleep before she lay her head on his chest and shut her eyes; drifting off into a peaceful sleep with her body next to the man she wanted more than anything.

ooOoo

Lizzy was up at the crack of dawn on Friday morning, having said her goodbyes the night before to her family, she was dressed in a summer dress because even at five in the morning in August, it was bloody hot. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail and make up lightly applied. Giving Longbourn one last look, she stretched out her arms and yawned as Charles's car pulled up in the driveway. Her friend cut the engine and stepped out of the car, looking almost as tired as she did.

"Are you sure you want me to take you?" Charles asked.

She nodded, "I need to see him, Charlie. I need to get there as soon as possible."

"Well the plan is to get there for breakfast. It should only be a two and a half hour drive from here and if we leave now then we avoid most of the motorway traffic." said Charles.

Lizzy checked her watch to see it was nearly quarter to six in the morning and handed Charles her suitcase before getting into the passenger seat. The chances were that she would end up going to sleep whilst Charles did the driving, not that he minded. He had said as much the day before when he had come to say his goodbyes to Jane and her sister had asked him if he could take Lizzy with him to Pemberley.

Charles shut the boot of the car and climbed into the driving seat, starting the engine and leaving Longbourn.

"What are you going to say when you see him?" Charles asked.

Lizzy looked out of the window, "We have a lot to talk about." she replied.

"Yes, you do. But do you know what you need to say?"

She nodded, "I'm going to tell him that I don't want to lose him."

 _And I'm going to tell him that I love him and he makes me happier than any one ever has._

"He's lucky to have you, Lizzy."

"And my sister is lucky to have you and you're lucky to have my sister." Lizzy said, smile forming on her face.

"Jane is an angel, I can't describe her other than that." Charles beamed.

"Just look after her, Charlie boy." Lizzy laughed.

"On my word, I shall always look after her."

The two pulled into a services stop when they had managed to get out of Hertfordshire for a toilet stop. When Lizzy emerged from the ladies, she thanked Charles for stopping by the little Costa Coffee shop inside the services to grab them both a coffee and a blueberry muffin for a light breakfast. After filling up at the petrol station, they continued their journey to Derbyshire.

They got stuck in traffic halfway through their journey, there had been an accident involving an overturned van causing delays of thirty minutes. Whilst they were waiting, they spoke more about her new job and how she was planning on doing three closes at Fagin's during the week. Charles simply replied that she shouldn't take too much on herself because starting a new job within a support worker field must be stressful. But in honesty, Lizzy wasn't quite ready to give up her job at Fagin's just yet.

Once the traffic had cleared, they were making the rest of the way to Pemberley; to which Lizzy felt herself going breathless at the magnificent house that stood overlooking a lake where the water stood still and the forest that surrounded the manor were begging her to explore them; to which she silently made the promise to have William show her around his home the second they were reunited.

Charles pulled up on the driveway, where they were both greeted by a man she recognised from the photograph that Mrs Reynolds had talked to her about all that time ago.

"Good to see you again, Charlie." the man greeted.

"You too Frank." Charles replied, shaking hands with the man.

"I'll have the staff fetch your things in a bit. Who is the lovely lady?" Frank asked.

"Frank Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth Bennet." Charles introduced.

The man gave her a smile and shook her hand, "So you're Will's Elizabeth?" he asked.

Lizzy nodded, "Is he around?" she asked.

"Still in his suite, I'll take you there." Frank replied.

She allowed Frank to lead her into the house, saying her thanks for Charles as he headed off to the sitting room to find his sister which only made Lizzy uncomfortable if she was going to be staying here with William. Frank led her up a staircase, asking her some questions about herself to which she answered politely, just knowing in a few moment she'd be confessing to her boyfriend that she loved him with all her heart.

ooOoo

William woke up that morning with the sun beaming through a crack in the curtain. He groaned, his head throbbing from drinking way too much whiskey the night before because he had been moping over his relationship with Lizzy since he had departed from her at Longbourn. She had text him once since his departure from Netherfield to ask if he was okay, to which his reply was that he was and there had been no more contact since, he had thought not to be the first to contact her about their relationship because she had been frightened by his actions against Wickham. So he had done what he hadn't done for a long time; drowned his sorrows. He felt like shit.

As his vision came into focus and his awareness of the fact he was expected to be at breakfast, he realised that he wasn't alone. William felt a hand drift slightly across his bare chest and felt hot breath hitting his skin. Turning his head to his left, his eyes widened in horror when he saw Caroline laying next to him; her leg wrapped over his own and her body nestled into his side quite comfortably. He tried to rack his brains, wondering when Caroline had come into his suite. William didn't even remember speaking to Caroline last night, let alone anything else? Oh God. Did something happen between them? God, he needed to get some air. He felt like he was going to puke at the thought of him doing _anything_ with Caroline Bingley.

He immediately shoved Caroline away from him and shot out of the bed, his fast actions caused Caroline to wake up straight away. The two of them looked at each other in silence and awkwardness before she stretched her arms out wide and smiled at him the way she had always smiled at him; like a predator.

"Good morning Darcy." Caroline greeted.

He glared at her, "What are you doing in my suite?" he demanded through gritted teeth.

"Being a friend. I came to see if you were okay and of course, you weren't. One thing led to another and you kissed me."

He felt sick to his stomach. There was no way that he would ever do that with Caroline, even when he was drunk...would he? He didn't even remember Caroline entering his suite, let alone anything else happening.

"We...we did what?"

"You heard me Darcy. I'm not that flattered that you passed out afterwards but I stayed with you, I didn't want to leave you alone-"

"You need to get out of here. Now!" William demanded.

Caroline got off the bed and picked up her dress from where it had been discarded the night before and began to pull it on as Darcy hurried her out of the bedroom door. He needed her out of his personal space, she must be lying about the two of them sharing a kiss, he had always been repulsed by Caroline Bingley; he only put up with her for Charles's sake.

But it was as they entered his sitting room, they both froze. The door that allowed entry into his suite from the hall was wide open and in the doorway stood Frank and Elizabeth.

ooOoo

Lizzy couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her boyfriend, half-dressed and shoving an almost dressed Caroline out of his bedroom. Her eyes widened but nothing was said. She felt her heart break into a million pieces when Caroline smirked and said, "Well Eliza, someone had to do the comforting after you had broken up with him." and with that, she turned and ran back down the hall.

How could he do this to her? She had told him that she hadn't broken up with him, that she just needed some space to process what had happened between him and Wickham but clearly he had taken it to mean that she had ended their relationship. She felt foolish, she had trusted him with completely, she had not once ever doubted that he would cheat on her. All she knew was that she had made a mistake in coming to Pemberley and needed to go home, she didn't want to stay in the same place as Caroline Bingley.

Before she knew it she was once again in the entrance hall where she ran into Charles. Her boss stopped her from running even more and looked down at her in concern, he noticed the tears that had fallen unwillingly from her eyes.

"Lizzy, what's the matter?" Charles asked.

"Can you drive me to the nearest train station?" she sniffed.

"Why? You just got here-"

Charles didn't get the chance to finish because the next thing that they heard was William shouting, "LIZZY!" from the top of the staircase. She looked up at Charles and pleaded with him to take her to the nearest train station, she needed to go home and that coming here was a big mistake. Her friend wanted an explanation but she didn't want to give him one, let his best friend tell him what she had seen and why she was so upset. William caught up to them, trying to catch his breath as he took hold of Lizzy and whipped her round to face him.

"Lizzy," William panted, "You have to let me explain."

"Explain what?" she shrieked, more tears forming, "I come here to see you, to tell you that I understand what you did to Wickham but when I get here, I see you coming out of your bedroom after spending the night with that awful woman!"

"I don't even remember anything-"

She slapped him. How dare he discredit her by saying he couldn't even remember cheating on her?

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? You don't remember cheating on me so that makes it okay, does it?"

William sighed heavily, "She says we shared a kiss, nothing more. I don't even know if it happened. I was drunk. Soberly I wouldn't even consider it. I was really, really drunk because I was upset about where I stood with you. I didn't know if we were over-"

"I told you we weren't. I told you that I just needed some space, William." Lizzy stated angrily.

"But I didn't know you were going to come to Pemberley! I didn't exactly have a text or a phone call. Can you blame me for having doubts? How did I know that your family weren't persuading you to forget about me-"

"My family wouldn't do that!" She yelled.

"No I forgot, your mother and younger sisters are more concerned about my wealth status-"

Lizzy scoffed, turning away from him and wiping her eyes. Charles stood in silence, looking at her and then William before heading out of the house. Because of their argument, she noticed that Georgiana had exited from one of the rooms and looking between the two of them in concern. She turned to face William once more, ignoring the smirking Caroline Bingley who now stood at the top of the staircase.

"Whatever my family's faults, whether it be my mother wanting me to do well for a future husband or my sisters wanting a rich boyfriend to buy them nice things or my little sister being a reckless slut, it doesn't matter to me. They are my family and despite their faults, I love them. I never once insinuated that I was after your money, you said you loved that about me but now I see that perhaps our entire relationship was a lie. Perhaps you and Wickham aren't so different-"

"You dare compare me to him?" William shouted, anger evident in his eyes as he stepped closer to her, "He left you for dead in a ditch after a car accident, he killed my sister in the same circumstances. I have never done that to you and nor would I ever."

"I didn't mean that. You just don't get it do you? I opened up to him, I trusted him, I loved him to a certain extent and then he hurt me in more ways than one. He didn't just leave me for dead. But then when I met you, I finally felt myself becoming happier and able to trust completely. Not once have you given me any inclination to doubt you until what happened in Meryton but I realised that had it been my sister he had killed, I would have done the same. But now, I don't know if I can ever trust you again after seeing you with her!" she hissed.

"I'm not interested in her," William whispered, taking hold of her hands and stepping closer to her so that their faces were apart, "I just want you."

She closed her eyes, trying to hold the tears in. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to have met him in his suite and told him that she loved him instead of seeing him coming out of his room with Caroline.

"It's too late," she said, her voice breaking, "You kissed her Will. Regardless of whether or not you remember it, regardless of whether you believe her or not, regardless of whether or not it happened, you still spent the night with her and seeking her comfort because you thought I had hurt you. You chose to doubt me when I have never given you a reason to. I was honest with you but you still chose to be with her."

"But Lizzy-"

Elizabeth shook her head, looking at him sadly, "I'm going back to Longbourn and then to Portsmouth where I belong. Take care of yourself." she whispered.

She could tell that he was reluctant to let her go, his brown eyes silently pleaded for her to stay with him; telling her that he didn't want to let go of their relationship. Right now, she couldn't stay with him because she needed some time to think things through about their relationship. Lizzy didn't know Caroline Bingley very well, having only met the woman once until now, and despite William telling her that he had no interest in Caroline Bingley to the extent he only put up with her because her brother was his best friend; he still allowed himself to be comforted by a woman he claimed to detest and had no faith in her. She had told him at Longbourn that she wasn't breaking up with him and he had assumed that she had.

William pulled her close to him, kissing her lightly before she pushed him away and ran out of the house; getting a comforting hug from Charles before climbing into his car once more.

"Are you sure you want to get the train back? I don't mind driving you back to Longbourn." Charles offered.

Lizzy buckled her seatbelt and sniffed, "Thank you but you've done enough. I just need some time to get my head straight before I go back to Portsmouth." she replied.

Charles started the engine, smiling sympathetically at his friend who had exited the house to watch them leave the driveway.

"Lizzy, I'm friends with you both. If there's anything that you need-"

"Charlie, just do one thing and make sure he's okay." Lizzy whispered.

"What did my sister do?" her friend asked as they pulled out of the gateway.

"She spent the night in Will's bed, kissed him apparently. No offence but if Will was telling the truth about your sister then she probably used his drunken state to poison his mind against me." she replied.

"That sounds like Caroline. I'll speak to her if you want-"

"There's no need. I think that Will and I need some time apart. After everything that happened with Wickham and now this...I need to figure some things out." Lizzy muttered.

"Nobody's perfect Lizzy." Charles pointed out.

"I know that."

Nothing more was said as Charles dropped her off at the train station near the village of Lambton and asked her yet again if she needed anything from him. With a parting hug, Lizzy hauled her suitcase to the ticket office and purchased a ticket back to Watford and text her father to ask him to pick her up from the train station when she got back. Ticket bought, she sat on the platform and listened to the wind blowing through the trees, more silent tears pouring down her cheeks as she wondered if things would ever be the same.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** So thank you for all your reviews, I'm overwhelmed by how many of you reviewed chapter 15. Of course some of you are hating on Lizzy at the moment because she wouldn't let William talk to her and didn't take his feelings into account. Please bear in mind that Lizzy may have made the wrong decision twice but we're all human and we all make mistakes, my version of Lizzy has a lot of issues when it comes to relationships, her mistakes are only natural because of her insecurities that she's had from George and Oliver. Of course I'm going to make excuses for her because this is how I've written her. This chapter will see Lizzy get a talking to from someone close to her who makes her see she's made a mistake with William but also take in to account that in this chapter she's only been back at Longbourn for a few days and arrived upon hearing the new that her little sister has been abducted by her ex-boyfriend.

On another note, I've changed the day I'm updating this to Sundays. Due to unforeseen circumstances in my life, weekends are now easier for me to update, so I hope that this chapter will ease your anger towards Lizzy.

As always please review and enjoy.

* * *

It had been three days since he had made the mistake of not following her to Lambton train station and instead of following her and asking for a chance to explain himself and insist that the two of them could work things out; he had let her go. William wished now that he had followed her, told her that he loved her but she had run away from him. Twice now. Why did she have to be so stubborn and refuse to listen to him? Well that answer was an easy one. She had told him of her bad experiences with George and Oliver and maybe she thought that giving him another chance when she had tried on and off with Oliver for six months, only for the relationship to fail she believed that it was going to be the same for her and him.

But it wasn't going to be the same. Of course there were going to be times where the two of them would hurt the other because that was how relationships worked. He knew he was a patient person but at the moment he wasn't really feeling the need to be patient. A part of him was debating whether he should go to Longbourn and refuse to leave until she heard him out, Georgiana had certainly thought he should go.

The night before he and his sister had been arguing with their father over Caroline. The two of them thought it would be best if their father cut all ties with Caroline but Reginald Darcy had a soft spot for the red-headed woman and couldn't see her vindictive nature even though he was aware that his children despised Caroline Bingley. Even Charles had been disgusted by Caroline's part in Lizzy and William's breakup. But the old man didn't budge, Caroline was his guest in their home and that was that. When their father had left the room, he and Georgie had discussed the situation with Lizzy and she had asked him to think it over going to Longbourn, because she knew he wasn't the type of person to give up. You only had to look at the almost child who was turning six in three days to know that he didn't give up on those people he cared for.

So here he was, sat in the living room on a bright morning; debating whether he should drive to Longbourn. It was only a two and a half hour drive so if he left early enough he could spend the day with Lizzy and talk and be back for late night. But then he would be leaving his family and he didn't know when the next time would come that he and Leonard would return to Pemberley so family time was important at the moment. It seemed he had a decision to make but little did he know that as the day would go on, his decision would be made for him.

ooOoo

"Caroline, you need to back off." Charles warned.

The two of them were sat on the grass just outside the house at Pemberley on that bright morning, Caroline was reading a book whilst he sat on the blanket; his thoughts on how Jane and Lizzy were doing since Jane had called him in tears to say that their little sister Lydia had run away with George Wickham, he was yet to tell the Darcy's about the situation with the Bennet family. He knew his sister was no angel and Caroline had always had a thing for Darcy and that Louisa openly encouraged Caroline to pursue his best friend; but what she had done was stepping across the line and he was determined to get to the bottom of what went on between Darcy and Caroline the night before he showed up at Pemberley with Elizabeth.

"Oh Charles, whatever do you mean?" Caroline asked innocently, not looking up from her book.

"Leave Darcy alone, the last thing he needs right now is you looking at him like a piece of meat and determining when to pounce. Thanks to you his relationship with Elizabeth is ruined-"

"Charles, it would never have lasted much longer!" Caroline snapped, shutting her book, "Women like Eliza are only after one thing, security and wealth. She's a waitress in your little cafe for god's sake!"

"May I remind you that I'm dating her sister and that she is one of my closest friends?" Charles snapped back.

"May I remind you that you are supposed to be my brother. Darcy and I were getting somewhere until you showed up with her!"

"Don't delude yourself Caroline, a blind man can see that he loves Lizzy. Not you. So if I find out that you've done anything else, I'm throwing you out of Netherfield!" Charles threatened, rising from the blanket and storming back into the house.

Charles loved his sisters dearly and always tried to see the best in them but when it came to Caroline, it was sometimes difficult to see the best in her when he knew that she always had an agenda. In the past he had always stuck up for his sister but this time she had gone too far, if he found out she had more to do with the situation than she already had then he would be sticking with his threat. He re-entered the house and found Darcy sitting in the living room with his father.

"Morning Charles." Reginald greeted, handing over the laptop to William.

"Good morning," Charles replied, "Will, can we speak?"

"I'll leave you two alone, I promised Georgiana we'd go out riding today." Reginald mused, exiting the room.

Charles sat down next to his friend. William looked angry but then again he either looked sad or angry since Lizzy had departed from Pemberley. His friend showed him the laptop and he looked at the screen, shocked to see everything little piece of information on Elizabeth Bennet that was possible. There were medical records, criminal records, the case against George Wickham when he had caused her to be hospitalised after a car accident, pictures of her eating a meal with Matthew, lots of pictures of her and William kissing in public, a few of Lizzy walking out of Fagin's and a few others of her in various public places.

"Someone seems to have been stalking Lizzy." Charles noted.

William nodded, "Your sister to be precise. She hired a private investigator to follow Lizzy and to find out about her past and when she saw that Elizabeth had a connection to that piece of scum -Wickham, Younge, whatever you want to call him- and sent everything she had on her to my father." he explained.

"Caroline did this?"

William nodded.

"Why would she send them over?" Charles asked, his anger rising.

William shrugged, "You know Caroline. She probably recognised Wickham from the brief moments she met him on the few occasions he and her were both here when he was dating Lucy. By sending the files over to my father and noting that Lizzy had a connection to the man that killed his daughter, he would try and persuade me to ditch Lizzy because she was 'tainted' in a way, that's the only thing I can think of." he suggested.

Charles felt his anger building again, how dare Caroline go this far? Was she really that desperate to have Darcy that she would go to these lengths?

"I'll deal with my sister," he promised, "But there is something that you should know regarding Lizzy."

"What about her?" William asked, concern present in his tone of voice.

"When she got home, I got a phone call from Jane. It turns out that their youngest sister Lydia has been having an inappropriate relationship with Wickham and they've run away. The police are searching for them but Lizzy is in a bad state at the moment." Charles replied.

His friend stood up, pacing the room and for several minutes there was nothing but silence.

"Are you absolutely certain?"

Charles nodded, "One hundred percent. Jane wouldn't lie, it's not in her nature." he replied.

William sighed heavily, sitting down once more.

"I suppose I should speak with my father about this, we may be able to help the police with their enquiries."

"If Wickham is caught, you could finally get the justice that Lucy deserves."

William nodded, "That is the plan but I want to help so that Lydia Bennet is found safe and well. Lizzy has suffered enough at his hands, I won't let Wickham claim a third victim!"

ooOoo

William sat in his suite with his bags packed, copying down the last known address of a Mrs Younge from the files that his father had been sent by Caroline Bingley. He knew that he should let the police deal with the whole Lydia Bennet abduction situation but he felt that he had to do something, he couldn't let another innocent girl become a victim to Wickham. A part of him wanted to stay here, it was Leonard's sixth birthday in a few days and his twenty-fifth just three days later from Leonard's but he needed to see that Wickham finally got the punishment that he deserved. There was a knock on the door and Frank entered the room with Leo, both sitting opposite William.

"Uncle Will, why won't you be here for my birthday?" his nephew asked, disappointment present in his voice.

After having spent the majority of the afternoon riding around the estate on the family's horses, William had made the decision that he should go and look for Wickham, knowing that the man had Lydia Bennet with him and he couldn't let another innocent person fall victim to the pathetic excuse for a man. He knelt down in front of his nephew, knowing that Leonard might not understand the reasons why he needed to do this but it needed to be done all the same.

"Leonard, I'm sorry. But you remember the man who hurt your mum?"

The boy nodded, "My dad, yeah." Leonard replied.

"Well he also hurt Lizzy and now he's run away with Lizzy's little sister and he might hurt her. I have to find him and Lizzy's sister before anybody else gets hurt, can you understand that?"

Leonard nodded, "Will he go to jail?"

"I hope so, he's a bad man and I can't let him hurt anyone else. Especially Lizzy and her family." William said.

"Because you love Lizzy?"

William was caught off-guard by his nephew's question. But he already knew the answer to it, he was more surprised that his nephew was that perceptive.

"Very much, Leo." he said softly.

"Then why aren't you together if you love her?" Leonard asked.

"Because I made a mistake that I need to fix." William replied.

Leonard nodded and hugged him tightly before running out of the room and down the hallway, his footsteps echoing as he went. Frank stood up, smiling slightly.

"You're doing this for her, aren't you?" Frank asked.

"To some extent. I'm also doing it so that our sister will finally have the justice she deserves."

Frank nodded his understanding, "Just be careful, Fitzwilliam." his brother cautioned.

"I'll try my best, I have to go. Will you keep an eye on Leonard for me?" William asked.

Frank smiled, "Of course I will, if you aren't home for your birthday, try and have a good one for me."

The two brothers shook hands and hugged briefly before William picked up his suitcase and said his goodbyes to Georgiana and his father. As he hugged Mrs Reynolds goodbye and went out of the house and down to the driveway, he saw Charles marching Caroline to her car. The two siblings saw him and he walked over to them.

"What's going on?" William asked.

"Caroline is leaving." Charles replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh...bye Caroline." William said quickly.

"Always a pleasure Darcy." Caroline winked.

"Tell him!" Charles demanded.

Caroline sighed, "I lied Darcy, we didn't share a kiss." she mumbled, glaring at her brother.

William felt himself getting angry, "Why the hell would you do that?" he shouted.

"Oh Darcy, you know that Eliza is no good for you-"

"She is _everything_ to me! You are _nothing_ and never will be anything to me other than my best friend's sister!" William shouted.

Caroline merely shrugged, giving Charles one last glare before getting into her car and pulling away from the house. William looked to Charles, knowing that his sister must have pushed his buttons for the last time because he was the one to order her to go from Pemberley.

"She's gone too far this time." Charles stated.

"I'll leave you to deal with Caroline, I have to go." Will replied.

"Will, make sure that you sort things out with Lizzy now that you know nothing happened between you and Caroline." Charles requested.

"I'll try, I'm going to see her at the moment I need to track down Wickham and make sure that Lydia Bennet is brought home safely." William replied.

The two best friends hugged before Will chucked his suitcase in the back of his car and pulled away from his home, punching in the postcode for Longbourn to speak with Elizabeth before he began his search for George Wickham.

ooOoo

In the three days since Lizzy had returned to Longbourn, her family were falling apart. On her return she had found out that Lydia had run off with her ex-boyfriend, Kitty had confessed that Lydia had been in a sexual relationship with Wickham for a while now and that the two of them were 'in love' but Lizzy had corrected her sister to say that when Wickham had dragged her down the alley he had told her that he was in still love with her; not Lydia. Lizzy knew that Wickham was simply using Lydia but the reasons behind it she didn't know. Mrs Bennet had become so hysterically upset that she had been prescribed bed rest and sleeping tablets because she couldn't hold it together due to panic attacks. Mr Bennet had shut himself off from the rest of the family, the only time that Lizzy had seen her father was when the police had come round; the rest of the time he was shut up in his library and only Mrs Hill was allowed admittance to make sure he ate some food. Mary kept herself busy, trying not to give her opinion on the matter of Lydia's 'abduction' whereas Kitty thought it was love's young dream and so romantic that she couldn't see that when the police eventually caught Wickham he would be facing charges of sexual activity with a child and child abduction due to the age of consent being sixteen and Lydia was only fifteen.

Jane had been trying to run the house and ensure that bills were paid due to their mother being ill and their father shutting himself away but her elder sister had been on the phone to Charles quite a lot, explaining the situation to him. Charles had been fantastic since the news of Lydia running away broke, he had arranged for Lizzy to have extra time off work in order to be with her family to which she was rather grateful. At the moment she felt a mixture of emotions regarding the situation that her family were involved in. She felt worried for her sister because she knew that Wickham held an influence over her, she felt angry because it was clear that Wickham would never change his ways. She felt disgusted that Wickham would sleep with a fourteen-recently-turned-fifteen year old girl and she felt furious with Kitty for keeping Lydia's relationship with Wickham a secret.

After several arguments between her and Kitty, the Bennet sisters were for once in their lives divided. It was after breakfast on the third day when their Aunt and Uncle Gardiner arrived. Uncle Ed said his greetings to his nieces before heading upstairs to check on his sister whilst Aunt Madeline went into the sitting room with Jane and Elizabeth.

"How are you girls bearing up?" Madeline asked.

"Mum's too ill to run the house," Jane explained, "Dad is speaking to the police before shutting himself away."

"He refuses to speak to anyone, only Mrs Hill is allowed admittance and that's because she brings him fresh clothes and his meals." Lizzy said.

"It must be hard on him," Madeline tried to reason, "Perhaps if he had been a little tougher on you girls then he might have prevented this."

"I just can't believe that Lydia would do something this foolish." Jane muttered.

"She's a naive, young girl who liked the attention and charms of a pathetic excuse for a man." Madeline stated.

"They need to catch him, the longer that Lydia is with Wickham, the more she'll fall for him." Lizzy said with concern.

"He'll be caught-"

"Eventually, he escaped justice when he killed William's sister-"

"Lizzy, have hope." Jane urged, patting her sister's hand and heading out of the room when the three of them heard Mrs Bennet calling her from upstairs.

Madeline shifted a little closer to Lizzy, wrapping an arm around her shoulder when she noticed that Lizzy was becoming a little distressed. Lizzy exhaled heavily, no matter how hard she tried to not think about everything, it caught up with her eventually. She would find herself thinking over the situation with William and the current one with Wickham and Lydia and found herself feeling crushed. Lydia wasn't even a teenager when her accident had happened and was too young to understand what had gone on, even Kitty had been too young to a certain extent so it wasn't their fault that the two of them had fallen for her ex-boyfriend's charms; but she did expect them to have some common sense and both of their behaviours had proven that they didn't.

But when she thought of William, she felt stupid. She regretted how she had handled everything with him. Twice she had pushed him away when she should have asked William to talk in private without Charles's awful sister in the way. She hadn't acted like his feelings mattered to her, at the time she was distraught to see what she had seen and had felt angry and then she had walked away and their relationship was over; every good moment they had shared kept playing over and over in her head, taunting her that she had made a terrible mistake.

"Jane told me what happened with that young man you were with, I think she's worried about you." Madeline said softly.

Lizzy rested her head on her aunt's shoulder, "I went to tell him that I loved him, that I wanted to be with him and when I saw him walk out of his room with a woman he detests, I assumed they had spent the night together. I told him before he left Longbourn that we weren't over, that I just needed some space after he beat Wickham to a pulp but I ran for it and didn't let him explain." she replied.

"Did he sleep with this woman?" Madeline asked.

"She says that they shared a kiss, I don't know what to believe. I don't know this woman well enough to know if she made it up."

"But you know William well enough?"

Lizzy shrugged, "I thought I did. But all you have to do is look at my track record and know that I'm a poor judge of character." she admitted.

"Oh dear Lizzy, you have to let it go. George Wickham was a snake who charmed you into thinking he was a decent man and no doubt he did the same to Lydia. As for that Oliver you dated, he was a pusher who lacked impatience and decency when it came to pursuing that physical aspect of a relationship that you weren't ready for. But as for this William that Jane has told me about, he seems like a decent young man who has also been hurt by George Wickham just as much as you have and I think that just because you've seen two negative situations come from him, you thought that was enough to give you a reason to bolt." Madeline replied.

"I just don't want to get hurt Aunt Maddie. I mean once I thought about it I could understand why William beat Wickham to a pulp. But this, he claims he hated that woman-"

"Elizabeth, you can't keep running away. Of course I understand that your past experiences have given you a fear of trusting someone with your heart but you can't just bolt at the first sign of trouble. If you want a relationship with William then you need to listen to him and let him explain his actions and if his explanation isn't enough to justify what he did then fair enough, walk away. But you have to take his feelings and actions into consideration. Wickham killed William's sister yes? So coming face to face with the man who was responsible for your sister's death and beating said man to a pulp is a perfectly reasonable reaction if you ask me. As for this woman you don't know much about, what if she is trying to compete with you for William's affections? What if she initiated it all as Jane says that William was drunk? You see, my dear niece, you didn't let him explain and now I can imagine that both of you are hurting." Madeline stated.

Lizzy nodded, looking up at her aunt and knowing that Madeline had made a very good point. But before she and Madeline could talk any more on the subject, they heard raised voices of Mrs Hill and a man coming from the entrance hall. Lizzy and Madeline rose from their seats, walking out into the entrance hall to see what was going on when Lizzy felt her heart nearly come to a stop. Her hazel eyes met those brown ones of the man she had left behind three days ago.

"William? What are you doing here?" Lizzy muttered, believing that this had to be a dream.

Mrs Hill stepped to one side, allowing William to step closer to Lizzy until they stood only a centimetre apart. Lizzy looked to her aunt who simply gave her an encouraging smile and walked back into the living room whilst Mrs Hill returned to the kitchen.

"Charles told me about Lydia and Wickham, I had to see if you were okay." William said softly, taking hold of her hand.

Lizzy closed her eyes, "I'm not okay, I feel the worst kind of terrible." she muttered.

"Sssh," he whispered, "Can we go somewhere private where we can talk?"

Lizzy opened her eyes and nodded, leading him up the stairs to her bedroom. Once inside, she locked the door and watched as he made himself at home by sitting comfortably on her bed. There were a few moments of silence as he looked around her room, noting the purple painted walls and a few posters of her favourite bands from her teenage years.

"How are you?" Lizzy asked, thinking it would be rude not to at least ask.

"Don't make conversation Elizabeth, this isn't a nice visit. Your sister has run off with a man who's responsible for a death and we need to talk about our relationship." William snapped.

Lizzy blinked, of course he would be angry with her. It was perfectly normal for him to be angry with her after she had walked away from him.

"Very well." she sighed, taking a seat at her computer desk.

"You need to understand how I felt after hearing you ask me to go to Pemberley without you. I thought I was going to lose you, despite you saying that it wasn't over between us. Communication had ceased, I felt devastated. My reaction to Wickham-"

"Was perfectly reasonable. If it had been one of my sisters I would have done the same thing." Lizzy interrupted.

He looked at her in surprise, he hadn't been expecting her to say that clearly.

"Is that why you came to Pemberley?" he asked.

Lizzy nodded, "After speaking it through and thinking about it a lot, I realised that I had been wrong to ask you to leave without me. I thought by coming to Pemberley with Charles we could talk about it and work it out but then things didn't go to plan. I saw you with Caroline and ran and then I came back home to discover that my little sister had run off with my ex. Will, my head is all over the place at the moment-"

"I know. Charles told me about Lydia. But there's something you need to know. Caroline lied about the two of us sharing a kiss." William interrupted.

She looked at him and felt horrible on the inside. So he had been right when he said he didn't know if it had even happened. Caroline had lied about the entire thing and all she felt was more regret that she hadn't listened to him at his home and anger as her blood boiled that her boss's sister would do something that drastic to drive a wedge between her and William.

"She lied?" Lizzy asked quietly.

"She did," William confirmed, "Charles has kicked her out of Netherfield because of her lies, she also hired a private investigator to find out about you and passed the files on to my father."

Lizzy felt mortified, "I'm so sorry." she said in barely a whisper, turning away from him.

William checked his watch, "I can't stay too much longer, I have to go somewhere else. But I need to know where we stand-"

"Where we stand?" she repeated, facing him again, a tear streaking down her face.

He nodded, standing up from her bed and pulling her to her feet.

"You were too stubborn to listen to me. I felt devastated that I had lost you and I didn't allow Caroline to spend the night in my room, nor would I ever. She took advantage of the fact that I was not in my normal state of mind and she used the opportunity to try and create the beginning of something that she has always wanted and craved, something which I have never returned for her. Caroline Bingley disgusts me, especially that she would go so far to make me lose the one woman who matters to me. You drive me mad that you wouldn't let me explain that because there was little contact between us I did doubt you, how could I not? The most beautiful and enchanting woman who teased me and brought me so much happiness to my dark world was asking me to give her space. I granted you your requested because you were scared of a moment of anger that wasn't like me. When you ended our relationship after seeing me with Caroline, I wanted to run after you but Charles told me to leave it for a day, to let the dust settle and then you'd call me. But then you didn't call so I called you but they went unanswered but I now know that you didn't answer because of Lydia and I don't blame you for that." William explained, taking a breath.

Lizzy said nothing because she had a feeling that he wasn't finished yet.

"So now I ask you where do we stand? Do you want us to be over? Everything that we have shared since May have brought light back into my life which has been so dark since I lost my sister, do you want to forget about it? If you want to run Lizzy, I will chase you. I'm not perfect and I won't ever try to be because trying to be perfect is exhausting. I tried to be perfect for Eleanor and when I stepped out of that image to care for a toddler who needed me ended that relationship. You have all of me, my heart, my soul, everything. I won't promise that I won't hurt you because there will be times where I do something that does or say something that we will argue on but what I can promise is that I will never hurt you intentionally, I will try to talk to you about anything that comes between us, I will try to make you as happy as you make me. There will be times where you might want to run away but if you'll meet me halfway, we can work through our problems together. I won't give up on the things we can have because now that I've had you in my life, I don't want to go without you." he declared, stroking her cheek lightly.

Lizzy didn't know what to say to his declaration, silent tears poured down her cheeks as her heart fluttered in her chest. She had been such a fucking idiot for not staying to hear him out and now here he was stood in her bedroom and saying he wasn't giving up on them.

"B-but I ran from you-"

"It doesn't matter to me. You told me about your past and I think that's why you ran, because you're scared of opening up more than you already have. I think you're scared of what getting close to me might do and I think you're scared that I might break your heart the way that those other two have. But Elizabeth Bennet, I'm not like those pricks. I've been patient with you at every step of this relationship, I know you're scared but I'm scared too. The last person I loved walked away from me because I stepped up to care for my nephew and she didn't want that. You have just as much control and power over my heart as much as you think I have over yours." he whispered.

Lizzy looked into those brown eyes and sighed, "Am I that much of an open book?" she asked.

William gave her a small smile, "Love, I can't explain it. I think that because you've told me about your past experiences I can imagine what you must feel on the inside. But Lizzy, I can't do all the work, it has to be a joint effort. Can you do that? Can you talk to me instead of running away?"

She remembered what her aunt had told her only a short while ago that she couldn't keep running away. It was time for her to face her demons and be brave, she couldn't let the hurt and betrayals she had felt from Wickham and Oliver affect her life forever, if she did then she would lose her chance to find happiness and love.

"I can try." she said in a whisper.

"Good. Now I have to go because there's something else I have to do, once it's over and done with, I'll call you and we can arrange to talk about everything properly. Is that okay?"

Lizzy nodded as his lips pressed to her forehead. Nothing more was said as he gave her one last look before leaving her bedroom. She sat where he had been sitting on the bed and exhaled heavily, she had a lot of making up to do with William. For him to say and show her that he wasn't willing to give up on her yet showed her how much he cared and she silently vowed to herself that it was time to start afresh. Once the Lydia situation had been sorted with the police and she was due to start her new job as Jacob's support worker then she would talk everything through with William and as hard as it might be, she had to listen to his thoughts and feelings on everything that had happened and in order to do that, she had to have a long, hard look at everything that had happened in her past and, as Aunt Madeline had said, let it go.

ooOoo

Lydia looked out of the window of the bedroom that she and George were sharing in Mrs Younge's house. They had been in Ramsgate for three days and she was getting bored. She wasn't allowed to go outside except for the garden and Mrs Younge kept a close watch on her whenever George had to go out of the house. All she knew was that the tickets had been bought for them to head to France at the end of the week and that Mrs Younge would be driving them to the ferry port at Dover.

Her phone was charging on the bed next to her, she had been forced to turn it off when she and George had run away from Meryton but now that he was once again out of the house, she switched it on. She had like a million missed calls from her parents and a few from each of her sisters, everyone had left a voicemail for her; begging for her to come home, that she wasn't in any trouble and that Wickham couldn't be trusted. They just wanted her to be safe but they couldn't see that she was happy, that she felt safe with George, he didn't treat her like a child like her family did. Like everyone did.

This dream of her and George living in France was going to come true, it was her chance to show her family that she could look after herself and that she had found the one she wanted to spend her life with. Not many girls her age could boast about that. She depended on George just like he depended on her. He promised that he would look out for her as long as she did what he told her to because his orders and demands were the only way that they could be together; it was for her benefit to listen to him because she needed to be kept safe. George had told her many times during their secret time together before running away that nobody would approve of their relationship; especially her family.

But why wouldn't her family approve of their relationship? Okay, she knew that Lizzy had dated George first but nothing had happened between them. George had told her that his relationship with her older sister was in the past and that he was completely devoted to her. Was it because that George was twenty-five and she had only just turned fifteen? But surely her parents could understand that you couldn't help who you fell for?

She heard the front door close from downstairs and her smile grew bigger. George was back from getting them some essentials for their journey. Lydia walked from the bed to the door and opened it ajar, hearing what seemed like a debate or an argument happening between Mrs Younge and George.

"Where's Lydia?" George asked.

"Upstairs in your bedroom, where she's been since you left." Mrs Younge replied.

"Has she behaved?"

"Not too badly. Look George, you're the closest thing that I have to a son-"

"And you're the closest thing I have to a mother. We've had this conversation before. It's why I took on your last name, remember?"

Lydia frowned, George had a different last name to Wickham?

"She's just a kid. A naive little kid. I know that you love having someone to rely on you completely but this is a dangerous game. You need to get moving quickly, if you're taking the girl with you. I'll protect you for as long as I can, you know that but you can't stay here for much longer." Mrs Younge warned.

"Relax,Dover is only thirty minutes in car from here. Come Friday we'll be on that ferry and nobody can catch us. Least of all the Darcy family." George replied.

"This is dangerous-"

"Oh for heaven's sake! The girl is merely a pawn to me, by taking her with me it hurts the Bennet family who will in turn blame the Darcy family because they couldn't just leave me alone." George yelled.

Lydia closed the door, tears springing to her eyes. How could George say something so cruel? Is that the way he truly felt? Or was he just telling his foster mother those things because she didn't approve of their relationship? She couldn't believe George didn't love her. He showered her with so many compliments, he had shown her that the boys she had once been friends with weren't to be trusted, he had shown her what it meant to have an animal passion for someone and the sex was an entirely amazing subject on it's own.

She sat back down on the bed that she had been sharing with George since their arrival in Ramsgate, thoughts running through her mind as to whether or not she should be here. Should she run away and start a life with George in France? Did he love her as he had told her he did? Or was he speaking the truth in his words to his foster mother? Was he simply using her to hurt William Darcy and his family?

Her hands went to her lower abdomen, closing her eyes as she tried to think straight. She didn't know whether she was carrying George's child but she was now two days late on her period and she was always on time when it came to that. But she knew it was a risk, she was too young to go on the pill and George had told her that he was allergic to condoms. What is she was pregnant? Would George stand by her? Would they be a happy family and live the perfect life like he had painted before she had heard his conversation with Mrs Younge? She didn't know what to think at the moment.

The door opened and she opened her eyes, smiling brightly when George sat next to her.

"Everything okay my Little Lydi?" he asked.

Lydia nodded, "I'm perfect." she said brightly.

"We'll be in Calais soon and we can leave all this behind." he whispered, kissing her throat.

But did she want to go to Calais with him? When they had run away she had never been surer of anything in her life but now she was beginning to doubt whether George had meant all the things he had said to her. Did she really want to run away and never see her family again?

"George?" she whispered.

"Hmmmm."

"You do love me...don't you?"

George looked up at her and she searched his eyes, trying to find some depth in them that told her that her internal fears were stupid and that he had only said those words to Mrs Younge because nobody would ever approve of their relationship.

"Of course I do! Why are you questioning that?!" he snapped at her.

She didn't find any sort of confirmation in his eyes that he had been true in his words and promises to her. All she saw was a stranger who was only using her to his own advantage. Lydia didn't know why the Darcy family were after him or why Lizzy hated him so much but perhaps her older sister was right to distrust George and perhaps she should find a way of contacting her family to say that she wanted to come home.

"I'm sorry." Lydia mumbled.

George sighed, kissing her cheek before announcing his intention to take a shower. Lydia nodded silently, waiting until the door was closed she dived for her phone and switched it on, seeing the many messages pop up on the screen that notified her of the hundreds of missed calls from her parents, her sisters and even her Aunt Maddie as well as text messages from Kitty to say that the family knew everything and Wickham wasn't to be trusted. Clearing the notifications, she flicked through her contact list until she came to her home phone number and pressed the call button.

"Hello?" asked the drained voice of her father.

He sounded worried and hurt and...heartbroken? Was it possible that her father had felt all this about her running away?

"Daddy, it's me." she said quietly.

A pause, "Lydia? Where are you? We've been so worried, the police are looking everywhere for you." Mr Bennet said quickly.

"I'm sorry." she apologised, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Lydi, tell me where you are and I'll bring you home. You aren't in trouble love, we're just worried about you. We want you home and safe."

"It's such a mess Dad-"

"I know darling. Lydia, just tell me where you are-"

But she didn't get to answer her father's request. The bedroom door burst open and a tray of food dropped to the floor. Mrs Younge dived for the phone, grabbing it out of Lydia's grasp and throwing it at the floor with all the force possible. The phone smashed into a thousand pieces, damaged beyond repair before the woman turned to Lydia with a look of thunderous anger on her face.

"You will not grass my son up!" Mrs Younge growled.

Lydia gulped, scared of what was going to happen to her now.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** Firstly, I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm glad that most of you can see the reasoning behind Lizzy's behaviour and that you liked the chapter so much. As always please continue to review and just a head's up, this chapter is pretty angsty. Secondly, I want to apologise if the standard isn't so high with my writing with this chapter, my week has been chaotic which is the only way I can sum it up. Although I still have another week until I start my second half of my first year of university, I've had to sort out my reading materials, stationary and finance for it (gotta love student finance when they are in the least bit helpful) and that's on top of the usual tantrums-turned-mood-swings of my toddler and my son, not understanding that he has to go, refusing to go to the school he's recently started so I've gotta love four year olds and two year olds at the moment. Then there's a lot of personal stuff going on which hasn't left me with much time to write this week so for these reasons I apologise.

Finally, if anyone is unfamiliar with terminology in the UK police force here's a few things mentioned in this chapter to prevent confusion:

-DS is short for Detective Sergeant, a senior officer in a Crime Investigation Department in a UK police force.

-DC is short for Detective Constable, the lowest rank in a Crime Investigation Department in a UK police force.

-CPS is short for the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK who decide whether there is enough evidence in a case to press charges and go to trial to get a conviction.7

And as always, please review.

* * *

After spending the night in his usual suite in the Marriott Hotel on Park Lane in London, Darcy got into his car and left the city after putting the postcode into his SatNav of the last known address of a Mrs Younge; the last foster carer of George Wickham. The woman last lived in Ramsgate and he could only hope that she still lived at that address. From what he had seen from the files, George Wickham had spent the longest time with Mrs Natalia Younge whilst he had been in foster care so much so that the man had taken on her last name; but not officially in terms of changing his name by deed poll. He could only hope that there was a lead to know where Wickham had gone with Lydia.

He was also feeling a little bad about leaving Leonard behind, it was now two days until his nephew's birthday and he should be going out to the nearest town to buy balloons, streamers and anything else to decorate the manor for Leonard's birthday and finishing up buying birthday presents with Frank and Georgiana. This year, Leo wanted to just celebrate with his family instead of going somewhere like Chessington World of Adventures where they had gone the year before. But instead he was tracking down the man who had killed Leonard's mother, had nearly caused Elizabeth's death and had now run off with Lydia Bennet. William knew it was personal but he needed to make sure that nobody else got hurt by George Wickham.

The traffic out of London was, as usual whenever he travelled in London by car, difficult. Getting stuck in a queue of traffic out of the city required you to move at a speed of five mph but luckily he didn't need to ponder on his thoughts about Wickham or his guilt about leaving his nephew at Pemberley. His phone, which was sat in the usual place on the dashboard and held up by a holder, alerted him to an incoming text message. William quickly set his phone to voice control and the message read aloud: _Hope you're okay, Lizzy x._

Elizabeth. He smiled that she had text him first, that she was hoping that he was okay. William had deliberately not told her that he was going after Wickham simply because he was worried about what her reaction would be if he had told her. Would she freak out like she had done when he had beaten Wickham to a pulp? Or would she have taken it quite calmly and told him to be careful? He didn't know. Still smiling, he dialled Elizabeth's number; deciding to call her to keep communication up between them if they were going to make an effort with each other.

"Hello Will." she said softly.

"Hi Elizabeth, I'm okay thank you for asking."

"That's good, I just wanted to make sure."

"How are you?" William asked.

A pause.

"I'm as okay as I can be, Lydia called the house after you left yesterday." Lizzy replied.

"Is she okay?"

"Well she spoke to my father as he was the one who picked up the phone, she didn't get to tell him where she was because the call was cut off and whenever we try to call her back it goes straight to her voicemail. The police are waiting for the phone company to get them the location details of where Lydia made the call so I suppose that will be a lead." Lizzy answered.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed that the police get what they're looking for quite soon. Wickham will be found and he will be punished."

"I can only hope that he will be." Lizzy said quietly.

"Try and stay positive sweetheart." William urged.

"I'm trying, it's difficult when this house is divided because of what Lydia has done."

"Try not to place too much blame on Lydia, she is only fifteen."

Another pause.

"How can you be so calm about the situation?" Lizzy asked.

"Because I've seen this before, although Lucy never ran away from home; Wickham held an influence over her. She was young, foolish and thought he was her first love. That is why I can relate to how Lydia is feeling right now. I'm sure you felt the same way as Lucy and Lydia did because of that man's charms when you got with him, despite the short term of the relationship. What did she say when she called the house?"

"She apologised and said that everything is a mess but that's about it."

"It sounds like she might be regretting going with him." William mused.

"Perhaps. I just hope she isn't in too much trouble, Wickham has a past of doing that with girls. I just hope that my sister realises that damage she has done by running off with Wickham, my family is a mess right now."

The traffic started picking up again so it allowed William to get out of London a little quicker.

"Are you driving?" Lizzy asked.

"Hands free mode." he explained.

"Okay, I'll leave you to your journey. I'll see you soon?"

It was a question, like she was unsure of whether he had meant what he had told her yesterday.

"Yes you will," he confirmed, "Take care Lizzy."

"You as well."

The phone call ended with Lizzy hanging up her end of the line. From what Elizabeth had told him about Lydia calling Longbourn and speaking to Mr Bennet, it sounded like the teenage girl was regretting ever running away from home. He could only hope that when he got to Ramsgate, he would be able to at least find a clue as to where George Wickham had taken Lydia Bennet.

ooOoo

The heavy curtains were still closed, the only source of light that she was allowed now was the light in the bedroom. Ever since the night before when Mrs Younge had discovered that she was on the phone to her father, she had been locked in George's bedroom and kept as a prisoner. Mrs Younge brought her something to eat every now and again and chucked a book for her to read in order for her to be kept amused. George had been furious with her when he found out what she had done and moved out of his bedroom and into the guest room to punish her, telling her that she needed to learn a lesson.

Lydia felt helpless as she sat on the bed and dried her tears away from her eyes. She had finally seen George for who he really was, a horrible man who had used her; well she hadn't worked out how he had used her yet, that was still unclear. Calling her father, she had just wanted to hear his voice and it had ended in disaster. For the first time in her life she realised that not thinking ahead of what the consequences would be by running away from home had led her to the current situation she was in; being kept a prison in Ramsgate against her will.

The door unlocked and opened, causing Lydia to look up with puffy eyes. Mrs Younge placed a tray of food on top of the chest of drawers before chucking a box at her and stood there glaring. Lydia looked down at the box, it was a pregnancy test. She looked from the box to the cold glare coming from George's foster mother and gulped.

"George has gone out to get some last minute things together. Considering everything that he's confided in me about your dirty little affair and the fact that you haven't asked George to pick you up any sanitary towels or tampons before you head off to Dover, I wanted to be sure if you were pregnant or not." Mrs Younge sneered.

Lydia stared back down at the box, "What if I am?" she mumbled.

Mrs Younge started tapping her foot impatiently against the carpet, "If you are then you're going back to your family, George's revenge be damned. My son can move to Calais and start a new life and you can go back and do whatever you bloody well wish to."

Lydia looked up, "If I'm carrying George's child, he'd want to be a part of it's life...wouldn't he?"

A harsh laugh told her everything she needed to know before Mrs Younge answered her properly.

"You stupid little girl! George doesn't want children, he wants to live his life the way he does; from one distraction to another. Lucy Fitzwilliam was a distraction and she thought the same as you; that George loved her and would raise their son with her, how wrong she was! Your sister was a distraction for him when Lucy died in that car crash, he was lucky to get away. Of course, he wasn't so lucky when your sister had her little accident-"

"He already has a child?!" Lydia shrieked, "He was the one who caused my sister's accident?"

Mrs Younge nodded and smiled darkly, "Leonard is his son's name. Doesn't have anything to do with him, the best thing for George; he's not suited to being tied down with a child. Now get in that bathroom and pee on that stick!"

Lydia was dragged from the bedroom to the bathroom opposite and pushed inside, she wasn't allowed to lock the door but she was allowed to close it so that she could have a little privacy. Opening the package and reading the instructions, she did as she had been told to do before placing the test on the edge of the sink, flushed the toilet and washed her hands. The door opened and closed once Mrs Younge was inside, the two sat on the edge of the bath whilst the test still lay on the sink.

"How long does it take for the result?" Lydia asked.

"Three minutes, sometimes less." Mrs Younge replied.

"And what if it says I'm having George's baby?"

Mrs Younge rolled her eyes, "You'll be going back to the stinking village you came from, never to hear from George again. You'll forget about him and carry on with your life and make a decision regarding the child. If you have an abortion or you decide to keep it, the choice is yours and yours alone. But if I find out that I've set you free and you've grassed my son up to the coppers I'll come for you and you'll live to regret it." the woman threatened.

Knowing what Mrs Younge was capable of, Lydia nodded in obedience. If she were pregnant, she would get her freedom and would be able to return to her family and would never speak of this incident again. If not, she would be going to Calais with George on Friday. But why George would still be taking her was still a mystery to her but whatever the outcome; her dreams of a happy new life with George Wickham were gone, she was doomed to be miserable thanks to her idiocy.

Checking her watch, Mrs Younge picked up the test and exhaled heavily; looking at Lydia with a sad smile.

"You're having George's baby you stupid little slag." Mrs Younge tutted.

Grabbing hold of the test, Lydia looked down at the two dark pink lines that formed in the two windows. She had seen what a positive result looked like when she had read through the instructions. She was pregnant, fifteen years old and pregnant.

"What happens now?" Lydia asked quietly, fear present in her voice.

Mrs Younge opened the bathroom door and grabbed her by the arm, shoving her back into George's bedroom.

"Pack you stuff and be quick about it. I'll text George and ask him to pick me up some shopping or something so it will give me some time to get you back to Meryton." Mrs Younge replied.

Lydia nodded, watching as Mrs Younge closed the door and heard the lock put back into place from the outside. Rushing, she pulled open her suitcase and started chucking in her clothes with as much speed as she could muster; hoping that Mrs Younge was actually going to let her go home.

ooOoo

Lizzy sat in the living room with her father, Mary and Jane as she tried to process the news that the police officers had just shared with her family. The local police force who were dealing with Lydia's missing person case had gone to work with the local Ramsgate police force because there had been a sighting of George Wickham in the town. The detectives were already in Ramsgate and the uniformed officers had been sent over to Longbourn so that Lizzy could identify the CCTV footage taken of George Wickham in a local supermarket. Of course, Lizzy had been able to confirm at once that it was George Wickham.

"You think that my daughter might be in Ramsgate?" Mr Bennet asked quietly.

"Yes Mr Bennet, we are doing everything we can with our colleagues in Ramsgate to investigate the sighting. The call records confirm that Lydia was in Ramsgate when she called you." the officer replied.

"What happens now?" Jane asked.

"We'll be in touch when our colleagues make any progress on the case, you'll be kept well informed." the officer promised.

With a parting smile, the police officer was escorted out of the house by Mrs Hill whilst Lizzy excused herself from the living room and picked up her phone. Once she was out in the fresh air that the outdoors offered, she dialled William's number, she just needed to hear a friendly voice.

"Hello sweetheart." William greeted.

"Will, I'm sorry to call you like this-"

"Don't be silly Elizabeth, you can talk to me whenever you wish to. Whatever I'm doing is not as important to me as you are."

She smiled at his gesture, "They believe that Lydia is in Ramsgate, her call record confirms it and George Wickham was spotted in a supermarket in Ramsgate. The police are trying to track them down." Lizzy said.

"That's good news, isn't it?" William asked.

"I suppose, at least we know that Wickham is in Ramsgate with Lydia. I just hope the police aren't too late." Lizzy sighed.

"Don't try to worry, at least your family know where they might be."

"Everything is just such a mess right now." she muttered, meaning more than just the situation with Lydia but knowing that she and William would talk about everything that had happened the next time they saw each other.

"I know love, but everything will work out in the end." William promised.

"Sorry, you weren't busy were you?"

"I stepped out of a meeting but like I said, you're more important to me."

"After everything that's happened?"

"Always Elizabeth, never forget that."

Lizzy smiled slightly, feeling a little better after talking to him. A part of her felt a little awkward calling him but knowing that he didn't mind talking to her whenever she needed to speak to someone made her awkwardness cease.

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me Lizzy. Like I said yesterday, we'll talk about everything properly the next time we see each other and then I plan on kissing you senseless because we have to catch up on lost time."

She couldn't help but grin, "I'll look forward to it then."

"Keep positive Lizzy, call me if you need to."

"Bye William."

"Bye Lizzy."

ooOoo

After getting off the phone with Elizabeth, William went back into the office of Ramsgate police station and sat back down in the chair he had occupied minutes before his phone call. It felt nice to be called by her when she needed someone to talk to about something. The door opened seconds later and the two detectives, DC Hayes and DS Jones, signed to Lydia Bennet's missing person's case entered the room. He had called them yesterday, telling them he needed to meet with them and told them about Wickham's involvement in Lucy's death and that he knew the last known address of Wickham's longest foster carer.

"Mr Darcy, thank you for waiting." DS Jones greeted.

The two detectives took to the other two empty seats across the table.

"We've decided, after looking into the case file regarding your sister's death, that there is enough evidence to arrest Wickham and charge him with manslaughter on top of the charges of child abduction and sexual activity with a child for the Lydia Bennet case." DC Hayes stated.

"That's great news, my family have been waiting for four years to get justice for Lucy." William replied.

"Although he will be charged with the manslaughter of Lucy Fitzwilliam and all the charges relating to the Lydia Bennet case, the CPS may decide to combine the sentences together or they may decide to put him on trial for child abduction and sexual activity for a child and then try him separately for manslaughter. It all depends on the CPS."

William nodded, "I just want this man to pay for his crimes, I don't want another girl to get hurt."

"We're doing everything that we can Mr Darcy. May we ask, aside from your family's connection with Mr Wickham, why do you have a particular interest in the case of a missing teenager?" DC Hayes asked.

"The girl in question is the youngest sister of my girlfriend. Forgive me, but I didn't realise that I was under interrogation for ensuring the safety of my girlfriend's sister." William snapped.

"I apologise." DC Hayes muttered.

"So what happens now? Are you going to go to Mrs Younge's last known address?" William asked.

"There are a few things that we have to do first but be assured that we are taking the information that you have given us very seriously."

William scoffed, surely his information regarding Mrs Younge's previous address and the fact that Elizabeth had called him to say that the police knew that Wickham had been sighted in a Ramsgate supermarket was enough to get round to the house to see if he had gone back to the home he had spent the most time at during his years in foster care?

"I don't think you're taking it that seriously. Wickham has been sighted in Ramsgate, his foster mother might still live in Ramsgate. Lydia Bennet might be held at the house in Ramsgate. The longer that any victim spends under Wickham's charms is in danger. You only have to look at what Wickham has done to Elizabeth Bennet and my sister to see the damage." William yelled.

"I understand Mr Darcy that you need this man to pay for his crimes but there's a certain way that we do things-"

"A girl's life could be in danger, a fifteen year old girl's life might I add, and you're worried about doing things a certain way? You've been told what Wickham is capable of and you've seen his history with his current victim's sister. Lydia Bennet could be dead already because you've taken too much time by not getting round there straight away-"

"Mr Darcy, I suggest you leave and calm down. We have a job to do. We'll be in touch when Mr Wickham is found and arrested." DS Jones instructed.

William bade goodbye to the two detectives and left the police station, feeling angry. Getting back into his car, he slammed the door shut and buckled his seatbelt, punching in the postcode of Mrs Younge's last known address and started to drive away from the police station; not caring whether it was the wrong thing to do, he had to see for himself if Lydia Bennet was staying there.

ooOoo

"She's pregnant?!" George yelled, rising so fast on his seat that Mrs Younge didn't get a chance to blink.

"You came back too early, I was going to take her back to Hertfordshire myself!" Mrs Younge shouted.

"And I was to discover that my only chance to hurt Darcy by getting his girlfriend to blame him for her sister's disappearance was gone by a note you had left and you and Lydia Bennet were halfway back to Hertfordshire, not to mention the fact that you were only doing this because she's pregnant!"

"George, it's time to face reality my dear. You will never make a good father-"

"I agree with you there, children aren't worth my time or attention-"

"This girl is stupid, just like Lucy, and has dreams of raising a family with you now she's carrying this child so I gave her some home truths. This way you aren't saddled with a pathetic teenage girl and her baby and you can still go to Calais." Mrs Younge tried to reason.

"And what about Darcy? You didn't think that the Darcy's would just give up did you?" George asked angrily.

"You ran away once, you can do it again!"

"That's what I was doing, I thought you were on my side!"

"I am on your side George! Don't you see that? You're my son, I need you to go to Calais and the longer that she's here the sooner they'll come for you. You were spotted, I saw it on the news. It's only a matter of time before they come here and ask me questions and there's only so much time that I can distract them long enough to get you a head start." Mrs Younge explained.

George's face fell, he had been spotted back in Ramsgate. Of course, he knew that the Bennet's would most likely do TV appeals to beg for their precious daughter's return to them and it had been on the news since they had run away together from Meryton but he hadn't thought that he would get caught this quickly.

"What do I do?" George groaned.

Mrs Younge patted his shoulder sympathetically as he sat back down next to her, "Dear, I've changed the time on your ticket, you leave for Calais tonight by yourself. I'll take Lydia back to Meryton tonight and she won't spill to the police about any of this, I can assure you of that. In the mean time, get your things packed and there's an envelope of money in the kitchen next to your ticket; it's all I could get hold of on short notice."

"You're so good to me." George whispered.

"Like I've said many times, you're like the son I never had and I'll always protect you the best I can." Mrs Younge smiled.

But before George could reply, there was a knock on the door. Mrs Younge rose from her seat, knowing it was probably one of the neighbours who the postman had wrongly delivered her post to. But when she opened the door, she saw it wasn't a neighbour; it was a tall man with dark curly hair and brown eyes. Mrs Younge didn't see the eyes widen of her son behind her as she asked, "Can I help you?"

The man didn't smile but looked directly past her, "I'm here for that scumbag Wickham." he replied.

Mrs Younge was pushed to one side as the man entered her house and grabbed Wickham by the scruff of the neck.

"Who are you? What do you want with my son?!" Mrs Younge yelled, slamming the front door.

The man turned to face her, George trying to free himself of the man's hold.

"My name is Fitzwilliam Darcy and I'm here to get this cockroach the punishment he deserves!" the man growled.


	18. Chapter 18

Hearing shouting and banging from the living room below, Lydia lay on the floor and pressed her ear to hear what was going on. She could hear the protests coming from Mrs Younge and muffled male voices. She heard something about police on their way and her heart beat faster in her chest in hope. Ever since George had returned home earlier than planned, her chance to return to Longbourn had been scuppered which had caused her to be locked in the bedroom since. As she listened more intently to the voices below, she recognised the voice of the man she had only briefly met when Lizzy had returned to Longbourn; William Darcy, her sister's boyfriend.

Now knowing that George had a connection to the Darcy family, she sat up as the shouting ceased downstairs. She had to make a decision as to what was going to happen to her now. If she stayed quiet, there was a chance that she would never be found and would be taken to France to live with George for god knows how long. If she banged on the bedroom floor as loud as she could, there was a chance that she would be found and her imprisonment in Ramsgate would end. Lydia knew that she only had a few seconds to make her decision, after all it wasn't just her that she had to think about now.

Standing to her feet, her eyes scanned the bedroom. The noises downstairs had ceased, there were more voices that she didn't recognise and she could only hope that the other two voices were of police officers that she had heard were on their way to the house. Seeing the empty glass that she had drunk out of a few hours ago, she walked over to the bed and picked it up from the tray. Throwing it as hard she could, the glass shattered into a hundred pieces as it made contact with the floor.

More silence, the only thing that Lydia could hear was the faster beating of her heart in her chest and the silent tears that fell down her cheeks. Whatever happened next, whether it be that she was being rescued or forced to get on a ferry at Dover, she had made her decision. She heard the running footsteps coming up the stairs, voices shouting her name; the voices that she didn't recognise.

"Lydia Bennet?" a man's voice called.

She hurried over to the locked bedroom door, banging on it as hard as she could.

"I'm in here!" she cried loudly.

"Stand back!" the man's voice instructed.

Doing as the man had told her, she stood by the window and watched as there was a loud bang and the door came of the hinges. More tears leaked from her eyes when the man stood before her and revealed his police badge; it was over, they had come to find her and had found her. The police officer assured her that everything was going to be okay, that they were going to take her to the station, ask her some questions and then call her family to take her home.

Taking hold of another officer's arms, a woman, she was led downstairs to the living room where she witnessed Mrs Younge and George being handcuffed and taken outside and put into police cars. William Darcy too had been handcuffed and taken away but it was hard to process that her imprisonment was over and now all that remained was the reality that she was carrying a child when she was still a child herself. Never before had Lydia realised that her own stupid and selfish actions had led her to this situation and she could only imagine how angry her father must be ever since she had left that note to say she was running away with Wickham.

ooOoo

"Mr Darcy, despite the fact that you have been arrested for intervening in a police matter, the DCI has decided to let you go with a caution." DS Jones informed.

William sat in his chair, feeling slightly annoyed with himself that he had allowed his anger to interfere with the police investigation. He had drove to the house and sat in his car, called DS Jones to say that he was going to sort Wickham out himself and then stormed into the house and nearly beat Wickham to a pulp when ten minutes later, the police had arrived at the house. Then they had heard the glass smash in the room above and whilst uniformed officers made sure that nobody left the room whilst a team of detectives had gone to investigate the upstairs of the house.

Lydia Bennet had been found and taken back to the station as far as he knew. Ever since everyone had returned to the station, he had been sat in this interview room with his lawyer waiting to be questioned. Once he had been, the officers had left and he had been left to sit for an hour waiting to hear whether he was going to be charged and bailed.

"Thank you." William replied stiffly, "Can I ask about Wickham?"

"He's been questioned and says that Lydia Bennet consented to everything but he's still been charged with the charges that we've spoken to you about. One of our colleagues is currently driving Miss Bennet home to her family, her statements been given and we believe that we have a case. As for the matter of the charge of manslaughter, Wickham admitted everything." DC Hayes informed.

This surprised William, why would Wickham finally admit his wrongdoing in Lucy's death when he had been running from it for the past four years?

"You look surprised," DS Jones commented, "Mr Wickham said that he's tired of running from Lucy Fitzwilliam's death."

"Will my family be kept informed of the case updates?" William asked.

DS Jones nodded, "Of course Mr Darcy. Let us lead you out to reception so we can release you and you can collect your things."

With that, he was being led from the interview room and saw Wickham being led back to the cells. The look on that cockroach's face looked like the man finally knew that he couldn't keep running and getting away with his crimes, it made Darcy feel that the whole thing was nearly over. After being signed out and being handed his belongings in a plastic bag and left the police station to get into his car. But before switching on the engine, he had a few missed calls from Elizabeth and a few text messages telling him that Lydia was on her way home.

Buckling his seatbelt, he switched on the engine and pulled away from Ramsgate police station; he decided to go straight to Longbourn to check on Elizabeth before he went back to Pemberley.

ooOoo

Lydia sat in the boiling bath water and switched the tap off using her toes. It had been three hours since her return to Longbourn and she felt exhausted. Upon her arrival with the female officer, she had been shouted at by Mary, hugged by Jane, Kitty and their mother, broken down at the sight of her father looking like a broken man who had been unable to eat and sleep and avoided Lizzy like the plague. Mrs Hill had taken her clothes so that they could be washed whilst the female officer, Lydia and her parents could discuss what had happened at Ramsgate. The good news was that Wickham and Mrs Younge had been charged for their crimes and she wouldn't have to see them again until the trial, contact was forbidden. But then the officer brought up that she was pregnant and more shouting had occurred.

Her father had been severely disappointed in her. A lot of shouting had gone on, about how stupid she was and that if she had more sense she wouldn't have run off with Wickham in the first place, that she wouldn't be in her current situation if she had stayed home. After more breaking down into tears and tight hugs, Mr Bennet apologised for shouting and told her to go and get a bath and rest, she had been through quite an ordeal. So she did as she was told without questioning her father for once, she had been in the bath for about ten minutes when there was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Lydi, it's Lizzy. Can I come in?"

"Sure." Lydia replied, stepping out of the bath and pulling on her dressing gown.

The door opened and Lizzy stepped inside, shutting the door behind her before taking a seat on the edge of the bath. Lydia closed the lid on the toilet and sat down, trying not to look her older sister in the eye. She knew how much she had messed up, she knew what she had done to her family but she must have caused Lizzy to hate her after running away with her sister's ex-boyfriend who had been responsible for said sister's near death experience.

"Lydi, I want you to know that I'm not angry with you. I know what Wickham is like and it's easy to be taken in by his charms and his words. I know how it is to be charmed into thinking he loves you and wants only you. I understand that you were naive to believe he cared for you, I just don't understand why he used you the way he did." Lizzy said softly.

Closing her eyes and exhaling sharply, Lydia tried to fight the tears that wanted to escape. Hearing that her older sister wasn't angry for running off and sleeping with her ex-boyfriend made her feel all the more guilty.

"The police call it grooming," Lydia whispered, "He charmed me, made me feel special and that I could only rely on him. He used me to try and get close to you. After your boyfriend beat him, I found out in Ramsgate that he was using me to put more of a wedge between you and William. George thought that by me running off with him it would make you blame William for it."

"At least he's been arrested now, he can't hurt anyone else."

"William was there you know, he was the one who alerted the police." Lydia muttered.

There was a slight pause as Lizzy took the news in that her boyfriend had been the one who had found out where Wickham had been hiding out.

"Are you really pregnant with his child?" Lizzy asked.

Lydia nodded, tears leaking from her eyes and down her cheeks, "It's true." she whispered.

Her sister moved and hugged her tightly, causing Lydia to wish that Lizzy wasn't being this kind to her. She didn't deserve any form of kindness after everything that she had done. After several minutes of crying into Lizzy's shoulder, Lydia pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do?" Lizzy asked.

Lydia shrugged, "I know I can't have an abortion, I'd be taking a life. But I don't think I'd be allowed to keep it either." she replied quietly.

"From what the police officer has told the family, it's still early days. The good news is that you have some time to think about it. If it were me in your situation I would give Mum and Dad some time to come to terms with what has happened and that you are back home safely. You also need some time to process what you've done. This isn't going to be easy but whatever you decide to do, you have my support." Lizzy stated.

Lydia nodded, "Thank you." she muttered.

"This isn't just about you any more Lydia, there's someone else you need to think about now." Lizzy pointed out.

"I know." Lydia replied quietly.

The two sisters shared a small smile and Lizzy left her alone in the bathroom. She felt slightly better knowing that Lizzy would support her in whatever she decided to do about her pregnancy, she hoped that her sister was right that after some time, everything would be okay.

ooOoo

Lizzy sat on the window seat in the living room reading a book, the entire house was quiet. Now that Lydia was home, her father had taken a breath of relief and after many tears and arguments, Mr Bennet had retired to his bedroom to get some rest. Lydia had bathed and gone to bed early, she had been given permission to eat in her bedroom after their talk. Kitty had gone out to see Denny whilst Jane and Mary were off doing their own thing. It had been a long day for everyone but she felt relieved and happy that her youngest sister was home safely.

Her phone buzzed where it was placed in her lap. Lizzy placed the book down and picked up her phone, seeing that it was an unread text message from William. Ever since Lydia had told her that William had been in Ramsgate, she was wondering why he hadn't told her and what had happened there. Lydia hadn't told her anything about William and she wasn't about to press her little sister for that information when it had been a long and stressful day for everyone.

 _Are you home? W x_

 _I am, where are you? x_

 _Outside, can we talk? x_

Lizzy rose from the window seat and exited the living room, opening the front door to see that William was stood on the driveway, smiling at her warmly. She walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly. He returned her embrace, inhaling the peach shampoo scent that lingered in her wavy hair. Once she had let him go, she took him by the hand and led him inside the house.

"Where is everyone? It's only eight o'clock in the evening." William asked.

"My parents are having an early night, they haven't slept properly since Lydia went away. The same goes for Lydia, she's been in her room and had her dinner in there, she's exhausted. Kitty has gone out to see her boyfriend, Mary and Jane are around here somewhere." Lizzy replied.

"So it's pretty quiet here then?"

Lizzy nodded, "I'm making the most of it." she smiled.

"How are your family?" William asked.

The two of them went into the living room and sat on the sofa, sitting half an arms length away. Lizzy looked into those brown eyes and saw that he was genuinely concerned about her and her family.

"Tired, relieved mostly. There was some anger and I'm sure that once Lydia has been back for a few days, there will be a lot more shouting and arguments but I think everyone needs to remember that Lydia has been through a lot and she knows that it was her own fault. She knows she made a mistake and she has a lot to think about with regards to the baby-"

"What baby?" William asked with a confused frown.

Sighing, Lizzy took hold of his hand.

"Lydia is pregnant with Wickham's child."

"That man is unbelievable!" William scoffed angrily.

Lizzy nodded in agreement as she squeezed his hand lightly, he looked at her with his anger fading away. After taking a deep breath to calm down, he squeezed her hand in return.

"And how are you?"

"I'm okay, again I'm relieved that my sister is home safely. I'm sticking around until Friday and then I'm back for the open at Fagin's on Saturday." Lizzy answered.

"It's Leo's birthday on Thursday and my own on Sunday, can I persuade you to come to Pemberley with me? Leonard would love to see you." William requested.

"As much as I would love to go with you now that the Caroline situation has been explained, I have to stay with Lydia and return to work. Charles has already given me enough time off as it is-"

"You know he's my best friend right? I can have a word with him if you want." William offered with a grin.

Lizzy couldn't help but grin back at him but shook her head, "I also don't want to create more of an atmosphere between myself and my colleagues if they learn I've been being off for more than my little sister being abducted." she replied.

He pouted slightly, "We still need to talk about everything." William whispered.

Her smile faded but she nodded in agreement. Now that Lydia was home and Wickham was in a prison cell, they had to talk about everything that had happened a week ago.

"We've already gone over the main points over what has happened so there's no point in repeating what has already been said between us. I've already told you my feelings on the subject but if we're going to get past this then we need to work together. Caroline is getting her punishment from her own brother for coming between us and Wickham has finally been caught-"

"Lydia told me that you were in Ramsgate, is it true?" Lizzy interrupted.

He nodded, "I was. I met with the detectives on your sister's case and told them everything about Lucy and Wickham, he's been charged with manslaughter as well as the charges connected to your sister's case. I got arrested-"

"You got arrested?!" Lizzy almost shrieked.

"After I left the police station in Ramsgate, I went straight to the address that Mrs Younge lived at and phoned the police to tell them I was there. Obviously they were angry that I tried to intervene in a police matter but I've been released with a caution, I have no criminal record." William explained.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she shifted closer to him.

"I suppose we both do stupid things. You intervene in police matters and I push you away due to the fact I'm insecure because of my past."

"Elizabeth, we can work through this. We just need to talk to each other if there is something wrong and then find the best way of dealing with a situation together. I just wish that Caroline hadn't taken advantage or that you had text me to let me know that Charles was bringing you."

Biting her lip, she asked, "Why did you go to Ramsgate? You could have been hurt. Was it to get justice for your sister?"

"Partly. I also wanted to make sure that your sister hadn't come to harm. Wickham had already caused one death and nearly yours, I couldn't let him claim a third victim. I didn't want you to go through the loss of a sibling at Wickham's hands."

"You did it for me and for Lucy?"

He nodded, cupping her face, "There is nothing that I wouldn't do for you, Lizzy." William whispered.

She felt his breath on her face as their heads came closer together. Hearing him say that he would do anything for her made her heart melt as she realised just how deeply he felt about her. Despite everything that had happened over the past week, she knew that the time to tell him how she felt about him was now.

"I love you." she breathed happily against his lips.

His eyes opened and William pulled back to study her. Lizzy opened her own eyes, biting her lip as she studied him. William looked surprised at her words that she was beginning to think that maybe she shouldn't have told him. But it was too late now, she knew that she had said those three words and she didn't want to take them back now.

"I love you too." William whispered, smiling and pulled her to him.

William's mouth claimed hers in a slow and passionate kiss, their tongues moving together as hands wrapped around each other's bodies to hold each other as close as they could. Hearing that he felt the same way that she felt about him made her believe that they could put the past behind them and move forward, that Wickham could no longer harm anyone dear to them and Caroline Bingley would never have a reason to be in their company since her brother and their close friend had kicked her out of his home. There was nothing standing in their way any more.

Pulling away from him, she stood up from the sofa and helped William to his feet. The clock on the wall showed that it was nearly nine in the evening and after an exhausting day for them both, she wanted nothing more than to sleep in Will's arms and wake up with him in the morning.

"Where are we going?" William whispered.

"Stay with me, tonight." Lizzy requested quietly.

Nodding, he kissed her once more and followed her up the stair quietly; hoping that nobody would see or hear them sneaking into Lizzy's bedroom.

* * *

 **A/N:** So I hope that you all like this chapter with Lizzy and Will's reunion and Lydia brought home and Wickham behind bars. Still plenty more to come next weekend :) As always, please review.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:** Apologies for the late chapter, I've had a lot on recently and only had time over the weekend to finish up the chapter for Autumn changes. So this chapter is a filler with more E&D time before I move on to what September will bring for the characters. Of course, you'll see Lizzy starting her new job with Jacob, Leonard starting school and Lydia will make a decision about her baby. A little later down the line you'll also see Charlotte make a reappearance. Lots to come so please keep reviewing as you read.

* * *

The end of August saw William reconciled with his girlfriend and the two had sorted out their differences. He had returned to Pemberley just in time to celebrate Leonard's sixth birthday where they had a barbecue complete with a bouncy castle in which he was convinced that Georgie had gotten more fun out of by trying to constantly floor Frank on it and a major water fight with the water blaster toy guns that Frank had bought his nephew for his birthday. After eating as much burgers, hot dogs, kebabs, salad, steaks and god knows what else had been cooked on the barbecue, they had all gone into the house at sunset thoroughly drenched and Leonard having fallen asleep on Frank that he needed to be carried to his bedroom. The main thing was that Leonard was happy and had gotten what he had wanted, to celebrate the day with his family.

On the Saturday, he and Leonard had gone to Lucy's grave in Lambton and for the first time, Leonard didn't seem so sad to visit the grave. They had laid down a bunch of lilies and sat for a while, with Leonard talking to the gravestone that had his mother's picture on it about starting a new school and that he missed her but he was happy. It still tore at him that such an innocent little boy had everything ripped away from him, Leo deserved to have his mother alive and well but thanks to the poor excuse for a father, he wouldn't have that. Instead, he was determined to continue caring for his nephew and provide him with everything Leonard could possibly need or want.

William was yet to decide whether to tell Leonard that Lydia Bennet was pregnant. He didn't know whether Lizzy's sister was going to keep the second child that Wickham had fathered but if Lydia was going to keep the baby, then it would be Leonard's half-sibling. But he wasn't going to dwell on that for now, Lydia had been through hell the last few days and she needed to adjust to being back home with her family before he asked Lizzy about the situation.

Elizabeth was back in Portsmouth now, she had called him on Saturday night and stayed on the phone with him until just after midnight to wish him a happy birthday, despite the fact she had to be up at five in the morning. She had apologised for not spending his birthday with him and asked if she could take him out for the night on his return to Portsmouth with Leonard and Mrs Reynolds if Mrs R wouldn't mind babysitting. He had agreed that Mrs R wouldn't mind, even if it happened on a school night because he wanted to see what it was like to stay overnight in her flat instead of sneaking out of her childhood bedroom at Longbourn the next morning, only to be caught by Jane who simply smirked at Lizzy before heading back upstairs to her own bedroom.

On Sunday, he spent the day having breakfast in bed before heading into the living room to open his presents from the family. His father had gifted him a new watch, Frank had given him two tickets for go-kart racing which he thought would be a good day out with Lizzy or Leonard depending on age restrictions, whilst Georgiana and Leonard had gifted him with some new clothes. Mrs Reynolds gave him the usual gift of 'birthday beer' which he smiled and hugged the housekeeper who had been the mother figure in his life when his own had died all those years ago.

After spending his birthday quite quietly after all the drama with Wickham, William got up early on Monday morning to say goodbye to his family; Leonard would be starting school on the seventh of September so the uniform order would be coming to the house in the next few days, he still needed to go out and buy Leonard new school shoes and PE shoes. With a long farewell, he, Leonard and Mrs Reynolds got into their car whilst Charles had gotten into his own and the four of them left Pemberley.

ooOoo

 _Stopped off at a services to get lunch and toilet stop. Will be back in Portsmouth for twoish if you want to come over? x_

Elizabeth smiled at the text, glad that her boyfriend was coming back and that he wanted to see her. A part of her felt awful, she had missed spending his birthday with him but he had agreed that she could take him out for a belated birthday night out for dinner or a movie to which he requested that he stay overnight in her flat. She was looking forward to it, at the moment she was thinking about doing something after work when she finished at two o'clock and then spending Tuesday, her day off, with Leonard and William if they didn't have any plans.

 _I'll be round about 3 if that's OK x_

 _See you then gorgeous ;) x_

"Lizzy, something more important than clearing tables?" Jade asked loudly, clearly annoyed.

Raising an eyebrow at her new colleague, she placed her phone back into her pocket. Ever since she had returned to Portsmouth and work at Fagin's, Jade had given her a frosty reception. She had a feeling she knew why, Jade didn't like the fact that, although Charles had hired a temp to cover her shifts while she had extended leave, she had to take on a few more responsibilities around the cafe. Lizzy didn't really care about the filthy looks that Jade threw in her direction or the comments Jade made to insinuate that she was being lazy when Jade had spent the majority of Monday morning sat in the staff room because they were quieter than usual.

"It's none of your business considering that you have spent most of the morning in the staff room." Lizzy shot back.

Jade glared at her, "Was it your hot boyfriend? Or was it your idiotic slut of a sister?"

Lizzy felt her anger building, Jade knew nothing about her family's situation; she only knew the information that she had gotten from the papers and made up her own assumptions about Lydia. Luckily, she didn't have to say anything in her sister's defence because Paige happened to walk into the cafe to start her shift.

"Jade, in the staff room. Now!" Paige yelled, stopping the very few conversations of the few customers that sat in the dining area.

Lizzy went back to work, clearing up tables and apologising to customers if they had been disturbed and finished up. It was nearly one o'clock, not much longer to go until she could forget working with Jade and go and see William and Leonard. She could hear the shouts coming from the staff room and the 'innocent' protests coming from Jade who was trying to blame and accuse Lizzy of laziness the entire morning shift. Paige had been promoted to the manager since she had departed for Longbourn and in her opinion, there was nobody better for the job than Paige.

A few minutes later, Jade emerged from the staff room; throwing her apron and name badge down and storming out of the cafe with her belongings. Lizzy looked to Paige, who had a furious look on her face and clocked in to start her shift.

"What's wrong with Jade?" Lizzy asked, closing the dishwasher door.

"I sacked her. She's been too lazy since you've been gone. She's been making comments about Mary for having red hair and saying things about other colleagues when you had extended leave. So I let her go, I'll talk to Charles when Mary gets in at two o'clock. How are you anyway?" Paige asked.

"Not too bad, I'll be calling home in a few days just to check in with the family. I think it will take a while for everyone to adjust to what's happened and the fact that Lydia has a decision to make about the baby." Lizzy replied.

Paige nodded, tying an apron around her waist.

"Having a baby isn't always easy. Don't get me wrong, I love Harry with my entire heart and he'll always matter more than myself but it's hard doing it on my own. Patrick helps out when he's home but the distance and time apart isn't good for us as a family. Lydia needs to think about her decision and if she's not going to have an abortion like you said on Saturday, then she needs to realise that having a baby and keeping it is going to be difficult and requires a lot of sacrifice." Paige stated kindly.

"I know, I think she realises what she's done and I hope she'll learn from her mistakes. I told her that she has my support in whatever she decides to do." Lizzy sighed.

"That's all you can do, be there for her. I imagine that your Dad is going to be a lot tougher on her after all this."

Lizzy shrugged, she honestly didn't know what was going through her father's mind. All she knew was that Mr Bennet had been hurt deeply when Lydia had run off with Wickham and it would probably take him a long time to recover from the shock of everything.

"I'd like to think he's going to put more of an effort into parenting. For too long, Kitty and Lydia have gotten away with so much crap, it's about time my father took it upon himself to look at things and change something before it's too late."

Paige nodded her understanding, looking up on the wall and then around the nearly empty cafe.

"Do you want to get off? I can manage on my own for an hour." Paige offered.

Smiling, Lizzy hugged Paige and clocked off; heading into the staff room to get her bag and jacket before leaving Fagin's and walking home. It wasn't very often that she got to finish work early and since Will wasn't going to be home for another hour or so, she decided to go home and watch something on TV before going to Will's house.

ooOoo

They had only been through the door and in the house for fifteen minutes but already Mrs R was unpacking the suitcases and putting dirty washing into the washing machine whilst Leonard went up to his bedroom to play with his cars. William sat in the living room with the large pile of letters that had gathered on the doormat since their departure from Portsmouth. The majority of it was takeaway menus and junk mail with a few bills and bank statements mixed in, after putting the letters in a kitchen drawer, he pulled out his phone.

 _Back home, come over. Can't wait 2 see u xo_

 _On my way :) L x_

He smiled, he couldn't wait to see her. It had only been a few days at most since they had departed in the Longbourn driveway with a kiss and they had talked since their last meeting but it wasn't the same as seeing her in the flesh. They were in love, they had openly admitted to each other how they felt and now he hoped that he could keep on telling her those three little words she had uttered to him first. Rising from the sofa, he entered the kitchen just as Mrs Reynolds was finishing loading the washing machine.

"Margaret, may I ask something of you?" William asked.

The woman smiled, "You would like to know if I wouldn't mind watching Leonard tonight and tomorrow morning so that you can spend some time with that lovely girl of yours." Margaret guessed.

"Am I that predictable?" William laughed.

"You forget Fitzwilliam that I've known you since you were born." Margaret chuckled.

"Am I asking too much?"

Margaret shook her head, "It's perfectly fine, you managed to get back in time for Leonard's birthday and I'm sure that you need to see Elizabeth as much as she needs to see you."

"Thanks Mrs R."

"I'll head upstairs to tell Leonard you'll be out for the night and see what he wants for dinner."

As Mrs Reynolds headed upstairs to see Leonard, there was a knock on the door. William walked through the hallway and opened it, pulling his girlfriend inside the doorway and planting an urgent kiss on her lips. Lizzy giggled in his arms, returning the kiss and wrapping her own arms around his neck before standing on her tiptoes. However, their moment was interrupted by the sound of two sets of footsteps on the stairs.

"Eurgh!" Leonard complained loudly.

William pulled away from Elizabeth and looked at his nephew, "What?" he asked.

"Kissing is gross!" Leonard replied.

Mrs Reynolds laughed and hugged Lizzy in greeting before heading into the kitchen to start preparing her and Leonard some dinner.

"It's what we do Leonard." William explained.

Leonard rolled his eyes and reached the bottom of the stairs, "It's still gross!"and hugged Lizzy tightly.

ooOoo

"Hello Leo, did you have a good birthday?" Lizzy asked.

The little boy looked up at her and nodded, "It was really fun." Leonard replied.

Lizzy smiled and went into her bag, pulling out an envelope and handing it to Leonard; who eagerly opened and pulled out the birthday card, grinning from ear to ear when a ten pound note fell to the floor.

"Thank you Lizzy!" Leonard said excitedly, hugging her tightly again.

"You're welcome Leo." Lizzy replied, watching as Leonard picked up the note and ran off into the kitchen.

She turned to face her boyfriend, wrapping her arms around his neck once more as he pulled her closer to him. Lizzy hummed when his lips came into contact with her neck; kissing lightly up until his lips rested at her ear.

"I'm all yours tonight." Will whispered in her ear.

She shivered, "What about Leo?"

"How about we spend the day tomorrow with him? Tonight I just want to go to yours, order a takeaway with a bottle of wine and snuggle up watching a film." William replied softly.

"I'm off tomorrow so I'd love to spend the day with the two of you. I still need to make it up to you for missing your birthday though-"

He silenced her with a quick kiss to her lips, causing her to look at him quizzically.

"I don't need you to make some big gesture, all I want is to spend the night with my girlfriend. I love you Lizzy, I just want a quiet night in where we don't have to be quiet because of others being around." William said quietly.

Lizzy felt her cheeks flush a light red when she thought back to their night together at Longbourn, how they had to be quiet because of the other people in the house but now they were back in Portsmouth and going to spend the night in her flat, where they didn't have to worry about that. When she nodded her agreement, Will quickly went upstairs and packed an overnight bag before they both said goodbye to Leonard and Mrs Reynolds and left the house.

ooOoo

After eating as much of the Chinese takeaway that they could, they sat on Elizabeth's sofa cuddled up in the dark; the only source of light coming from the flickering of the TV as they watched a movie on Netflix. It was some romance comedy that was starting to make them both a little bored of watching that Will had started kissing her quite heatedly. Before long, Lizzy had ended up in his lap, sharing heated kisses and her shirt on the other side of her living room whilst his own had been thrown on to the kitchen floor.

Lizzy pulled away from his lips, breathing raggedly as he removed her bra and started kissing across her breasts whilst his hands dipped into her shorts and started stroking her where she needed him to. Her lips went to his neck, lightly biting him which caused him to groan. Will continued his teasing strokes and kisses as she moved her hands underneath his jeans and boxer shorts, stroking the hardness she found there.

With a light shriek of surprise, he retracted his hands from her shorts and held on to her thighs; lifting them both from the sofa and walking into her bedroom, placing her softly on to her bed and looking at her through lust filled eyes. Lizzy bit her lip as he removed the rest of her clothes before removing his own and she ran a hand over his chest, pulling him down to her as she lay back on the bed.

William looked at her with such love and adoration as his hands ran through the soft waves of her hair, gently massaging her scalp as his body covered her own, the warmth of their bodies joining as he slipped inside of her gently. She gasped, her hands gripping on to his shoulders as he began to move in and out of her slowly.

"I love you Lizzy." he whispered softly.

She smiled, "I love you, Will."

Kisses were shared and moans were made but they stayed as close to each other as their bodies would allow. The waves and crashes of pleasure rode through Elizabeth's body that she tightened around her boyfriend and came with a cry of his name. With her own release found, Will picked up the pace and thrust into her until he released into her, collapsing fully on top of his girlfriend and burying his face in the crook of her neck. There was nobody else in the world who had ever made him feel like he was home except for Elizabeth Bennet.

With their breathing settled and back to a normal pace, they pulled back the duvet and climbed into the bed; cradled in each other's arms with one last whisper of 'I love you' before they fell into a deep sleep.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:** My apologies in the delay of this chapter, I've had a family bereavement this week and so for this reason, along with pregnancy related things, I don't know when the next chapters of NWTS and AC will be updated. I'm not abandoning my WIP because I will be coming back after I've had the time to support my family and grieve for my loss. All I ask is that you be patient with me.

As always, enjoy and review.

* * *

September came in the blink of an eye. On the third of September which fell on a Thursday, Lizzy and Will were dressed for eight o'clock and waited in the living room so that Leonard could show off his new school uniform. So far, Leonard hadn't been nervous about starting a new school, even though he had never been to one but he was looking forward to being around other kids his own age. When he stepped into the living room, he spun around and said that he felt uncomfortable having to wear a tie, jumper and a blazer.

"At least you don't have a hat. The grammar school and Mayville kids have to wear one." Lizzy laughed.

Leonard pulled a face, "St Johns is better then."

"We'll pick you up outside your classroom at three fifteen okay?" Will asked.

Leonard nodded and the three of them bade goodbye to Mrs Reynolds and got into Will's car. Usually, Leonard wouldn't have to start until ten to nine but because it was his first day the school wanted to give him a tour and introduce him to his teacher and 'buddy' who would look after him on his first day before the other children came running into their classrooms.

At first Lizzy was unsure of whether she should come along to Leo's school on his first day, she was only his uncle's girlfriend and didn't want to interfere with that moment. She also knew that Leonard had been feeling a little upset as the day drew nearer because there would be all these parents taking their kids to school and felt that he would be picked on because his mum was dead and his 'dad' was in prison. But Will had assured her that Leonard thought a lot of her and would want her there for support and then he had assured Leonard that if anyone did pick on him he could tell his teacher and the issue would be dealt with.

Will pulled up a few roads away from the school, parking was a nightmare when it was the school rush. The three of them walked through the school gates, heading into the reception of the school and sat in the waiting area for the headteacher.

"Mr Darcy? My name is Mrs Adams, I'm the headteacher at St Johns College." a woman introduced.

They all stood up, with Will shaking hands with Mrs Adams before introducing Lizzy and Leonard. Mrs Adams shook hands with both of them before taking them on a tour, showing them the classrooms of the other year groups, the IT suite, the dining hall, the gym where the children would take their PE lessons. Lizzy liked how the younger years was a separate building from the senior year groups. The headteacher briefly pointed out across the large playground the senior years buildings and briefly in the direction of the dormitories shaped like a castle for students who were sent to the school by families in lived further from Portsmouth and said that Leonard would be enrolled at the school until the age of eighteen if he wished it, although school was only compulsory until the age of sixteen.

"Ah man! Another ten years of school at least!" Leonard complained.

Will laughed, ruffling his nephew's hair.

"Be glad you don't go to boarding school like Auntie Georgie."

The school bell rang and they both said goodbye to Leonard and watched as Mrs Adams led Leonard towards his classroom. They left the building and headed back to the car, getting inside; Will let out a loud sigh.

"What's the matter?" Lizzy asked.

"I don't know what to do with myself now that Leonard has school full time. For so long, he's been tutored and we always have something to do. Now, how I am supposed to fill those six hours that he's at school?" Will asked.

Lizzy smiled and squeezed his hand, "You have me."

"But you start your new job on Monday and even then you'll still be working at Fagin's a few nights a week."

"You can always find something to occupy your time. Besides, Charles and I have agreed my new contract that I'll work Monday and Tuesday nights so there's three other days that we can spend together before Leo needs picking up."

"I don't like the idea of you working yourself too much, your support worker position pays well doesn't it?"

Lizzy nodded, "Seventeen grand a year but consider that I'll be working with special needs children. Jacob has Autism and the contract is only for a year, I may not be his support worker forever so I'll have to wait and see. Elaine would have offered me a job as a trainee social worker but she didn't have any positions going at the moment but we'll see." she replied.

"I still don't understand why you want to continue working at Fagin's, I don't want you to tire yourself out." Will said, concerned.

She couldn't help the grin that formed on her face, "Because you like to be the only one who tires me out?" Lizzy asked.

Will returned her grin, leaning across his seat to cup her face.

"You got it in one." he teased, kissing her lightly.

When he pulled away, she smiled brightly.

"What shall we do today then? I don't have work." Lizzy said.

"How about I treat you to lunch?"

"Hang on, I still owe you a meal out for your birthday."

"Elizabeth, you can try to argue with me on this but I got what I wanted. I had a night in with you without having to worry about sisters hearing us or nephews discovering us. So if I want to treat my girlfriend to lunch, you should just let me."

"But it's not why I'm with you. Your money I mean."

Will smiled, squeezing her hand with his own.

"I know. It's part of why I love you."

Lizzy leaned over and kissed him softly before buckling her seatbelt. Watching as her boyfriend smiled at her, they pulled away from the school and drove back to William's house; deciding to have a lazy morning before he took her out for lunch.

ooOoo

Mr Bennet sat at the dining table waiting for his youngest two daughters to come and sit with him, there was a lot that they needed to talk about. Ever since Lydia ran away with Wickham, he had to think about his decisions regarding his daughters. He acknowledged that he hadn't given his girls many ground rules, only the older two had ever been sensible but it was time for that to change. It was time that Lydia and Kitty had some ground rules before it was too late, if it wasn't too late already.

Kitty and Lydia sat at the dining table opposite their father, looking at him curiously as to what was going on. He knew that they wouldn't like the topic of this conversation.

"Girls, with everything that's happened recently, I've decided that there are going to be a few changes around here." Mr Bennet said.

Kitty frowned, "What kind of changes?" she asked.

"For starters, you don't date anyone without your mother and I meeting him first."

"But-"

"Secondly, you have a curfew of eight o'clock on weekdays, nine o'clock on weekends."

"Dad, that's not fair!"

"Thirdly, I'll be talking to sixth form and asking for weekly performance reports and the same goes for you Lydia at school."

Lydia said nothing but simply nodded, not meeting her father's gaze.

"Kitty, you'll no longer be allowed on to that army base to see that young man of yours."

"Can I ask why I'm being punished for something Lydia did?!" Kitty shrieked.

"You're seventeen and should have told us about her relationship with Wickham. You decided not to and as a result your sister ran away and got pregnant. That's why you're being 'punished' Catherine Bennet!" Mr Bennet shouted.

Kitty merely sulked and said no more on the subject.

"Lydia, have you made a decision about the baby?" Mr Bennet asked, in a softer tone.

"I want to keep it." Lydia replied.

Mr Bennet nodded, "Well, you've made the decision now. I'll book you an appointment to see the GP tomorrow and we'll go from there. I hope you realise that this baby will be a lot of responsibility, you no longer can think about yourself. Your mother and I will help out so that you can go on to sixth form next September but we won't be doing all the late night feeds and nappy changes and nor will you see as a permanent babysitters when you want to go out with your friends all the time. Your choice is to keep the baby so therefore, it's your responsibility. Do you understand?"

Lydia met her father's stare and nodded, "This baby didn't ask to be born the way it was conceived. I want to be better. I want to be a better person, Dad." she muttered.

Mr Bennet nodded and reached across the table to squeeze his daughter's hand. A part of him still thought his youngest daughter stupid for getting herself into this mess but he was happy to see that she was taking it seriously and that she was taking responsibility for her actions. It was still a long way to go but he hoped that Lydia would be able to prove herself capable of being a better person.

ooOoo

As they paid for the bill at Frankie and Benny's, Lizzy's phone beeped to an incoming text message. William watched as his girlfriend picked up the phone and read the message before she met his eyes, her expression changed.

"What is it?" Will asked.

"Lydia. She's keeping the baby." Lizzy replied.

So Wickham was going to have another child that he wasn't going to take responsibility for.

"Raising a child isn't easy. Lucy struggled in those first days when Leonard was born but she was a great mum." Will said.

"I know that raising a child isn't easy. It won't be for Lydia but apparently my Dad and Mum are going to help look after the baby so she can go to sixth form next September. The baby will be due in May roughly so it will interfere with her GCSE's."

The two of them left the restaurant and walked around Gunwharf Quays as they continued to talk about the situation.

"I've just realised," Lizzy mused, "That my niece or nephew will be the half-sibling of your nephew."

"That's true...should we tell Leonard that he's getting a brother or sister?" William asked.

"It's up to you. He's your nephew."

"He's as good as yours too, Elizabeth."

She looked up at him and smiled, "Do you really think so?" Lizzy asked.

He nodded and cupped her face in his hands, "I love you, I want a future with you as part of my family. I already see you as Leonard's auntie, he really likes you Lizzy. I know it's only been three months since our first date so it sounds like I'm rushing this relationship but it just feels right." William said quietly.

Smiling, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him quickly.

"It doesn't sound like you want to rush things, I want the same things you do. Maybe it's crazy but I can see myself having everything with you."

He returned her smile, "And what do you mean by 'everything', Miss Bennet?" William whispered in a teasing tone.

Lizzy blushed which only made him smile wider, "I...may have thought about the long term with you." she admitted.

"The long term?"

"Maybe one day we could live together, you know that 'long term' but one day."

Living together, that was certainly something that he'd like to do.

"Have I told you that I love you more than anything?" William asked.

"You may have mentioned it once or twice today." Lizzy grinned.

"Well I want to say it a lot, I love you Elizabeth Bennet."

"As I love you Fitzwilliam Darcy. Now, we have to go and pick your nephew up from school."

Holding hands, they took the escalator down to the underground car park to leave Gunwharf Quays. All throughout their car journey, his thoughts drifted off to imagining what his future with Elizabeth might be like. Hearing her admit that she had thought about the two of living in a home that was theirs had got him thinking, he wanted everything with her just as much as she wanted everything with him. He wanted to wake up with her in their bed each morning, he wanted to do school runs together, to argue over food shops and to see Leonard and Lizzy spending afternoons together. He wanted to see her fall asleep in his arms each night and one day he wanted to see his engagement ring on her finger, a wedding the way that they both wanted and a honeymoon somewhere secluded and then perhaps, one day, they would be surrounded by their own children.

William knew that it was too soon to even consider asking Elizabeth to start this future that they both wanted. As he watched her flick through the radio stations as they got stuck in the school run traffic, he silently decided to wait a few weeks and see how things went before he brought up the subject of them living together; but he hoped that by Christmas, they would be waking up on those frosty mornings together every morning.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N:** I'd like to start by apologising in the delay for an update in my stories, as you are aware I had a bereavement in my family so I made the decision to take a while out of everything to be able to support my family and make arrangements to say goodbye to my family member. But I'm glad to say that this is an update and the updates will be coming more frequently now that I'm feeling a little better.

This story has another nine chapters plus and epilogue to come and I'm hoping to have this story completed before Christmas so that I can focus on Autumn Changes and a few other concepts that I have in mind for E&D, including a Christmas fic that will be ready to be posted in early December.

So sit back, relax and enjoy the read. Oh and please review :)

* * *

On Monday morning, Elizabeth woke at six in the morning to the sound of her alarm blaring and William snoring lightly behind her. Shuffling out of her boyfriend's grasp, she pressed the snooze button on the alarm before settling back into Will's arms. She should be getting ready for her first day as Jacob's support worker as she had to be at the children's home for half past eight but the warmth coming from her boyfriend's body was too tempting to resist; and so she curled up against him, rolling on to her side so that they were face to face.

Lizzy ran her hand over the stubble forming on his chin and smiled as Will began to wake. He blinked several times and let out a loud yawn before he smiled at her, running a hand through the mess of wavy hair that fell around her face.

"Good morning." Lizzy whispered.

"Good morning beautiful, what time is it?" Will asked.

"Half six."

Will groaned but pulled her closer, "I suppose I have to get used to this don't I?"

Lizzy nodded and smiled, "Well, this morning you're only up early because it's my first day at Mary Rose. Mrs Reynolds is taking Leonard to school today, isn't she?" she asked.

"She is, hence the reason we spent the night at your flat."

"I didn't think that your housekeeper taking your nephew to school was the only reason you stayed here last night." Lizzy whispered, running a hand down his chest until it stopped at the line of his boxers.

"Well, the perks of you not living with anyone else is that we can be as loud as we want." Will grinned, hands settling on to her hips.

"Mhmmm," Lizzy hummed, her hand travelling lower which caused Will to let out a groan of desire.

Before she could register the action, William had rolled her on to her back and he settled himself on top of her; grinding his pelvis into her own and capturing her lips in a fiery kiss. Hands started pushing down underwear, gasps were made and Lizzy felt her throat burn as her boyfriend placed a line of heated kisses down her neck.

"Will...I can't be late." Lizzy moaned, but not having enough willpower to stop what was happening between them she didn't want it to stop.

"Lizzy, stop talking. I'll be finished with you by seven o'clock." Will murmured against her neck, pushing his arousal into her.

Letting out a pleasurable moan, Lizzy eyes briefly went to the clock to see that she had twenty minutes until she really had to be in the shower to get ready for work. Deciding to make the most of this part of her morning, she placed her hands in William's hair and placed her lips to his, kissing him passionately as he thrust in and out of her.

ooOoo

If William had had his way, and if Lizzy had been working at the cafe this morning, he would have phoned her in sick and spent most of the day in bed making love to her. When they had both woken this morning it had been the best start to a morning and she didn't seem so nervous about her start to her new job. So he had left her flat at eight o'clock, kissed her goodbye and wished her good luck for her first day.

When he got back to his house it was just as Mrs Reynolds had arrived back in her car after taking Leonard to school. Although his nephew was only on his third day in a mainstream school setting, Leonard seemed to be enjoying it and had already made a lot of friends.

"Thank you for taking Leo to school." Will said, smiling.

"It's not a problem, Fitzwilliam," Mrs Reynolds replied, "Did you have a nice time with Elizabeth?"

"I did, although I think it will be hard having to go without seeing her today and tomorrow." William replied.

"A blind man can see how much you two love each other. In the short time that you've known Elizabeth, you've transformed. She means a lot to you, doesn't she?"

William nodded, "The world. She's the first woman that I've ever been with that wanted me for me, she doesn't care about the estate, the money and she certainly doesn't see Leonard as a burden. If anything, she loves Leonard as if he were her own nephew." he answered.

"I feel that you're getting ready to propose to her, am I correct?"

"Can you really tell of my intentions?"

Mrs Reynolds smiled as the two of them moved into the kitchen so she could put the kettle on as William took a seat at the table.

"Fitzwilliam, I've known you your entire life. You needn't do anything to give away your thoughts, I can see the way you look at Elizabeth and the way you were at Pemberley for those few days you were apart from her that you don't want a future without Elizabeth in it. I've never seen you look that way at anyone before, not even when you were with Eleanor. You're lucky to have her and she's lucky to have you, so if you want a future with her then ask her."

"But we've only been together since June and although I know that I love her more than anything and that she feels the same, surely it's too soon to even think about moving in together or getting engaged?" William asked.

Mrs Reynolds didn't reply straight away, she made them both a cup of tea before taking the seat opposite William and continued to smile at him reassuringly. Ever since his mother had died, Margaret Reynolds had been like a surrogate mother to him and his siblings; even to his own father she had been a little bit of comfort, a true friend to Reginald Darcy. She always gave him the best advice when he was in doubt of doing something because as much as he wanted to marry Elizabeth and have her live with him permanently, his short time with his girlfriend was the only thing holding him back from asking her.

"Fitzwilliam, have I ever told you the story of how I and the late Mr Reynolds first came to be together?" Margaret asked.

William shook his head, taking a sip from his mug.

"Arthur and I met when I was seventeen, he was working at the local butcher's shop in Lambton and I was employed to look after the local children for the other families and I did a few odd sewing jobs to help bring in some income. But my parents had seven children and because times were still a little old fashioned back then, my father told me that I was to be courted by the lawyer's son, John." Margaret began.

"And what was John like?"

"He was polite, kind but too serious and wanted to be a lawyer like his father. It was also around this time that Arthur started a delivery service of the meat that the villagers bought and he tended to bring by a lamb leg at no cost to us because my father had lost his job. Arthur saw how desperate my mother was and he liked to help us out where he could. It was only a matter of time that Arthur and I became friends and we talked a lot about the things we liked to do."

Margaret paused to take another sip of her tea before continuing.

"It was one night that the village had put on a local dance so my friends and I dressed up in our best dresses and went to the town hall. John barely took an interest in me so I danced the night away with Arthur instead. That night was the first night I realised that I had feelings for the butcher's boy, it was just magical the time we spent together." Margaret said, eyes sparkling at some memory.

"What happened after the dance?" Will asked, taking another mouthful of his tea.

"Well, Arthur and I continued to see one another. He used to pick daffodils for me whilst I made him handkerchiefs with our initials sewn into the fabric. We didn't have much but it didn't matter and once my family approved of the love we shared, we were engaged to be married."

"How long had you know each other?"

Margaret looked him in the eye and smiled, "Three months and married after four and a half. We lived in a little cottage until we met a lovely young couple who had taken over the Pemberley estate. Anne Darcy gave me the position of housekeeper whilst Reginald Darcy made my Arthur the head grounds keeper. My point in telling you this tale Fitzwilliam is that my Arthur and I had only known each other a short time but everything felt so right. We were happily married for forty-six years. So if I were you, I'd put these doubts about timing to the back of my head and just do what feels right. If you feel that you want to live and marry Elizabeth now and you're certain that she feels the same, don't let timing hold you back." she advised.

William finished off his tea and thanked Mrs Reynolds for the advice when his phone rang. Answering the call, he left the kitchen to hear the news that he had been waiting for since Wickham's arrest.

ooOoo

So far, her first day as a support worker had been rather successful. As Jacob had only just started at the Mary Rose school, their first day had been about getting to know the other children in Jacob's class and getting to know his teachers by singing a song about colours to which the children had to sing their name and say what colour they liked best, overall blue and red had been the most popular colours. Once welcome time was finished, Lizzy and Jacob had settled into a secluded part of the classroom to do some maths work before the bell rang at half past ten for the children's first fifteen minute break time.

During the break she had gotten to know a few of the teachers who worked at Mary Rose who gave her advice on starting out in the support worker field. One of the teachers also told her about the other specialist school settings in Portsmouth and how, if the educational psychologist deemed Jacob fit enough not to attend Mary Rose for the next school year; he might be transferred to Cliffdale Academy where other children with autism went but on a milder scale. Lizzy found it fascinating how the teachers got involved with the children's play at break time, she remembered her own days at primary school and the teachers just stood and observed the children instead of directly engaging in the play. One of Jacob's teachers told her that getting involved with the children during break times allowed the children to develop their social skills and imaginative play a lot more.

After break time, Jacob and a few of the other children were sent to sit at a table with Lizzy and another teacher to read a book where Lizzy read out the words and once the page was finished with the children pointed out what the characters were doing or might be feeling before the page was turned. Once the story was finished, their little group sat in front of the interactive whiteboard to use a program which came up with a word that the children had to spell and put the word into a sentence. She had never seen children get so focussed and excited at the same time before until now, watching as after the spelling exercise the children each took a turn to find a letter out of a selection of others and put their name of the leader board with their final score.

Her day finished when she said goodbye to Jacob at twelve o'clock, watching him head off to the lunch hall with the other children. She signed out at reception and left the building, going through her bag to get her phone out; only to see that she had three missed calls from Will and two from her father. As she went to dial Will's number as she walked through the school gates, she saw that her boyfriend was waiting for her with his car; holding a single red rose.

"Will..." she said, surprised and touched by his gesture as he handed her the rose.

"I wanted to surprise you." Will replied, wrapping his arms around her.

"Well I am surprised but our time is limited. I have to go home,get changed and grab some lunch before my shift starts at Fagin's." Lizzy replied.

"I know but I wanted to let you know that I heard from my lawyer today."

The two of them got into Will's car and buckled up, starting to drive away from the school and in the direction of Elizabeth's flat.

"What did your lawyer say?"

"Wickham appeared in court first thing this morning, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter of my sister and I'm guessing the CPS gave him some sort of deal without having to go to trial and he's been sentenced to eight years in prison for causing Lucy's death."

"That's good news right?"

"Very good news. We've been waiting for this day a very long time. Unfortunately, I don't know whether the case and charges against him regarding Lydia were seen to today as my lawyer couldn't tell me anything." Will replied.

They pulled up outside Lizzy's flat ten minutes later and headed inside the building, with William making them both a sandwich as Lizzy changed into her work uniform; the weather was changing and the shorts had been put away until next summer so when she stepped out wearing a skirt, William frowned.

"I think I preferred the shorts."

Rolling her eyes, she took her plate from him and the two sat down to eat, only to be interrupted by another phone call from Mr Bennet.

"Hello Dad." Lizzy greeted.

"Elizabeth, I've been trying to get hold of you."

"Sorry I was at work. First day as a support worker, remember?"

"I hope you got on well."

"I did, thanks. But something tells me that this isn't a call to see how my first day went." Lizzy replied.

"I need to talk to you about Lydia." Mr Bennet said.

"What's up?"

"Wickham appeared in court today and pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him regarding your sister."

Elizabeth placed her plate and half finished sandwich on the coffee table. Ever since her sister's return to Lonbourne she had been dreading the day of Wickham's plea hearing and to hear that he had pleaded not guilty made her blood boil. She knew that at first Lydia had gone of her own free will but the way the world saw it, Wickham was a sexual predator preying on young, naive girls and for that he needed to be punished.

"What happened?"

"Well the judge refused to grant him bail and the trial is set for February. We've requested that Lydia give her evidence via a live feed camera because the stress of going up on the stand might cause the baby some harm."

"Okay, thanks for letting me know." Lizzy replied.

"No problem Lizzy, take care." Mr Bennet said.

The phone call ended, with Lizzy meeting her boyfriend's quizzical stare and sighed heavily.

"Wickham pleaded not guilty to the charges of child abduction and sexual activity with a child." Lizzy explained.

Will looked furious, "Oh that little snake!" he growled.

"I'm furious! After everything that he's done to my family, he thinks he can still get away with it."

"What happened?" William asked.

"Well the judge refused to grant him bail so he's staying where he is for the time being. I suppose Mrs Younge will be having her plea hearing in the next few days and we'll hear the outcome of hers too."

"Don't despair, Elizabeth. Both of them will get what they deserve for their part in Lydia's mistake." Will assured her.

"I know, I just hope that the jury finds them both guilty. Wickham has already walked away from a crime with very little punishment once." Lizzy said.

"Just remember, you'll always have me." William whispered, kissing her forehead lightly.

At that moment, Lizzy didn't care that she only had twenty minutes until she had to leave the house to start her walk to Fagin's. She snuggled into her boyfriend and the two sat there together in silence, with Will caressing her hair softly. Will was right, she did have him there whenever she needed something; he had always been there, whether it be him bringing her chocolate and a chat after a fallout with Charlotte to tracking her sister down in Ramsgate to offering her support whilst her family had to yet again go through another trial concerning George Wickham. She knew that despite her mistake all those weeks ago, both her and Will were in this for the long haul and she would never lose what they had.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and apologies in delay, I've been very busy submitting my first university assignment and seeing to my children. The next chapter for this story, I will aim to update before the end of the month if not then expect the update on the 1st December. As for those of you who are following Autumn Changes, the update will be coming on Tuesday next week.

* * *

September went as quickly as it came, bringing a miserable, wet start to October. Having had a leak in the roof at her flat, Lizzy had temporarily been staying at Will's for a few days whilst her landlord got some builders in to repair the roof from the inside of her small attic until the weather had dried out enough for the builders to get on to the roof of the building to fix the outside. Although she had, so far, been staying at Will's for three days, she was getting used to going to sleep with him and then waking up each morning to him nuzzling her neck or kissing her forehead. Waking up with William for the past three days had been great, she didn't want to have to go back to her flat.

Leonard was settling in well at school, his teachers praised his hard work despite having never been in a class of twenty-nine other children before. He made friends and he was becoming confident when the other children asked about why he wasn't picked up by his parents. Lizzy and Will had also told him about Lydia having the baby and Leonard had been delighted at the news that the baby would be his little brother or sister.

Jacob was doing well at school as well, Lizzy had noticed. The structured routine was just what Jacob needed and his behaviour had calmed down a lot since he had left his last school. The classes were smaller, there were more teachers to a group to see to the needs of the child rather than the typical one teacher and one teaching assistant in a mainstream classroom in a mainstream school.

It was a Friday afternoon during the second week of October. Elizabeth had finished at Mary Rose at twelve and had a phone call from Elaine, being asked by her former boss to go in for a talk about Jacob. After sending Will a text to explain that she would be late for lunch, she got a taxi straight to the children's home and sat in Elaine's office.

"Thanks for coming in on short notice, Elizabeth." Elaine said with a smile.

"That's okay, is this about Jacob?" Lizzy asked.

Elaine shut the door to the office and opened the filing cabinet in the corner and pulled out a thick file before taking to the empty seat next to where Lizzy sat at the desk.

"This is Jacob's file, with the most recent reports on his performance at Mary Rose." Elaine said, handing over the file.

Elizabeth opened the file and flicked through, eyes scanning the reports from his time at Mayfield to the reports at the very back of the file dated from the week before from Mary Rose. She saw that the reports reflected positively in most areas of Jacob's assessment and she couldn't help but smile.

"Jacob has been improving a lot thanks to the change in school and your help as his support worker. He's performing better in classes than he ever did at Mayfield." Elaine said with pride present in her voice.

Closing the folder, Lizzy met the other woman's eyes and smiled, "Jacob is a lovely boy, I'm glad to have the chance to help make his life a little better." Lizzy replied.

"It might get even more positive for Jacob."

Lizzy frowned, "How so?" she asked.

"We have a potential foster family lined up to get to know Jacob. They have experience in fostering children with several disabilities and have successfully adopted two children with autism. I think that they would be the perfect family for Jacob to settle with." Elaine explained.

Nodding, she smiled again.

"Are they local?"

"They live in Havant, a little outside of the city but we're going to start introducing them to Jacob this weekend for a visit and then he can go out on day trips with them. If, after a while, things are going well with this potential family then we'll be looking at placing Jacob in their care." Elaine replied.

"I think that's great news. Does Jacob know of this family?"

"He's seen pictures and he's asked a bit about them, he likes that they have a garden and a dog. But this weekend will be the first time that he will meet them face to face."

"Are you hoping for an eventual adoption?"

"Well that is the hope for the future if the foster placement is successful but we'll be waiting to see how his year at Mary Rose goes first and what the educational psychologist recommends for Jacob's education for the next academic year."

"Is there anything else that you need to discuss with me?"

Elaine shook her head, "No but I will keep you updated on the foster family situation."

Shaking hands with her former boss, Lizzy smiled and left the children's home. As she walked back to Southsea to meet her boyfriend at William's house, she got a call from her landlord to say that the roof on the inside of the building had been fixed and she could move back in and, regarding how the weather was over the next few weeks, that the exterior of the roof would be repaired before the month ended. When the call with her landlord ended, she phoned Will and asked him to meet her at her flat to which he agreed.

Will arrived shortly after she did, kissing her briefly before handing over a sandwich that Mrs Reynolds had made them and the two sat on the sofa; each talking about how their mornings had gone. As William told her that he finally signed up at a gym to occupy some of his mornings each week, Lizzy smiled. Ever since she had started her new job the previous month, she had been worried about how her boyfriend was occupying his mornings without her. Since Charles was back at Netherfield to be closer to Jane, she had been trying to persuade her boyfriend to take up a hobby. Most mornings he slept in late according to Mrs Reynolds but over the past three weeks, he had been getting to know Matthew a little better as the two sometimes went out to watch a midday rugby match at The Trafalgar and have a pint or go out there every Monday for lunch as they both enjoyed the Monday curry club where they got a free pint of beer if they ordered a curry.

It was nice that her boyfriend was bonding with her friend, as Matthew still worked part time at Costa Coffee and always had Mondays off so Mondays had turned into a boy's day until Will had to go and pick Leonard up from school.

"Is it okay if I can pick up my stuff from your house tomorrow?" Lizzy asked.

William swallowed the last bite of his sandwich and nodded, "Of course, but I wouldn't mind if you wanted to leave it there for when you want to stay over." he replied.

"I suppose, but I can't take over your clothing space."

Will laughed, "A drawer for you to use is hardly taking up my space. I don't mind, in fact I'd rather like it if you had your own clothing space in my house."

"You would?" she asked.

He nodded and shifted closer to her, "I've become so used to you staying with me over the last few days that I don't know how I'm going to sleep without you. Why don't you stay the entire weekend?" Will suggested.

As much as she was tempted to spend the entire weekend with William, she knew that she should stay in her flat this weekend. She had to chuck out the food that had gone out of date whilst she had been staying at Will's and at some point go to the supermarket and do a food shop in between taking Will and Leonard to Fort Nelson this weekend.

They had gone on a drive the weekend before along Portsdown Hill and Leonard had asked about the four forts that stood on top of the hill. Whilst three of them were privately owned and one of the three gave horse riding lessons to the public at a price, the other one which was Fort Nelson was a museum and opened to the public for free. So when Lizzy had told Leonard about how it had tunnels and military related things on display, Leonard had begged them to go and see it this weekend.

"I have a few things to do here but there is something I wanted to talk to you about." Lizzy said.

"What's up?"

Lizzy sighed, "I'm thinking about handing in my notice at Fagin's." she replied.

Will's eyes widened, "What's brought this on?" he asked.

"Well, I'm earning a fifteen hundred a month due to my job as a special needs support worker for Jacob. My rent is only five hundred and all bills including food comes to another four hundred and fifty so I don't really need the extra income from Fagin's. And the fact that I'm doing the Monday and Tuesday night closes is tiring me out as I have to be up at six the next morning and I'm not finishing until nine the night before. But when I get home I still have to cook dinner and have a bath and then go to bed and it ends up being quite late before I do." Lizzy explained.

"Okay, if it's what you want to do then I'll support you one hundred percent." Will replied with a smile.

"Thanks, I just feel sad about doing so. It's been some of the best years of my life there, I've made such good friends in Mary and Paige and then there's Charles as well-"

"Don't worry about Charles's reaction, he'll be sad to see you go but he's understanding. I don't want you to work two jobs if you're going to tire yourself out. Besides, aren't you paying more tax for having a second job?" Will asked.

"There's that too but it's not a major factor as to why I want to hand my two week notice in to Paige."

But before they could talk any more on the subject of her leaving her job at Fagin's, there was a knock on the door. Both looked at each other, confused as to who it was. As far as Lizzy was concerned, she shouldn't be expecting her landlord or the builders because the job on the inside of the flat was finished, therefore she didn't know who would be knocking on her door.

She rose from the sofa and crossed the hallway to open the door, to find Charlotte smiling at her in the doorway; carrying a suitcase. Elizabeth, barely having time to register the fact that the best friend that she hadn't seen since the wedding in July, stood aside for Charlotte to enter the flat.

"It's good to see you Lizzy, there's so much that I need to tell you." Charlotte said, hugging her.

Lizzy returned Charlotte's hug but the confusion still remained. As far as she had been aware, her best friend was happily married and living with her cousin in Kent playing the vicar's wife. There had been no call, no text and no email from Charlotte Collins to say that she was paying a visit to Portsmouth.

"Charlotte, it's great to see you but I'm a little confused. You didn't say that you were coming for a visit." Lizzy replied.

The two friends released each other and Charlotte sighed heavily.

"Actually, I'm back for a while. I'm staying with Maria for a little bit until I can get myself sorted." Charlotte said.

"Get yourself sorted?" Lizzy repeated, still confused.

Charlotte took off her coat and hung it up on Lizzy's coat rack before turning to face her once more. As Lizzy's eyes went down to the growing stomach of her best friend, it became clear what Charlotte had meant about getting herself sorted.

"Charlotte, are you..."

"I'm four months pregnant Lizzy and I'm sorry to say that you were right in your concerns. I should never have married Bill Collins." Charlotte replied.

Lizzy stood in the hallway, trying to process the news that her best friend had walked out on her marriage and was four months pregnant as Charlotte walked past her to say hello to William. Clearly, she hadn't been the only one who had been through a rough patch recently.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N:** I'm really sorry that this chapter has taken so long to post, I haven't got a good reason for it to be honest I suppose if I have to say why it would be that I don't want to see this story end; and it will soon be coming to an end but I suppose when it does, I'll still have Autumn Changes to focus on.

Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, it's more of a filler until the next one which will bring November to the story and I'm hoping to have more to write about in the next one. So, for now, enjoy. The next chapter will hopefully be posted after Christmas.

Happy Holidays.

* * *

Lizzy followed her best friend through to her living room, still feeling completely surprised that Charlotte would just turn up and announce that she should never have married Bill.

"Charlotte, I thought everything between you and Bill was okay?" Lizzy asked.

Her best friend sat down on the other sofa after saying hello to William and sighed, "Lizzy, I only married him because we found out that we were having a baby. He's a vicar, how would it look to his bishop if his boss found out that he had knocked up his girlfriend? He was ashamed and I went along with it." Charlotte explained.

"And when were you going to tell me that you were having a baby? I'm your best friend! I would have supported you!" Lizzy scolded.

Charlotte looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "When was I supposed to tell you Lizzy? You weren't exactly happy about me marrying Bill and then you had all of that stuff going on with your boyfriend and Lydia, I was hardly going to burden you with my problems when you had enough of your own to sort out."

William shifted uncomfortably before rising from his seat and crossed the room to stand next to Elizabeth.

"I'll leave you two to talk, call me later if you need anything." William whispered.

Lizzy briefly kissed her boyfriend goodbye and listened as her front door shut behind him before sitting next to Charlotte and sighing heavily.

"I haven't been much of a friend have I?" Lizzy said.

Charlotte smiled sadly, "It's okay, you've had a lot going on."

"But still-"

"No, don't apologise. You've had enough going on without me adding to it." Charlotte insisted.

"So, what else has happened?" Lizzy asked.

Charlotte cleared her throat, "Well, two days ago I got back from shopping for baby things when I heard moaning sounds coming from the spare bedroom. I thought it was strange because Bill had told me that he was going to the local school to do the harvest festival and some hymns. So I went upstairs, opened the bedroom door to see Bill in bed with another woman."

Elizabeth's eyes widened, "Bill, a two timer? No!" she exclaimed.

Charlotte nodded, "That's not the only thing. The woman he was cheating on me with was Anne De Bourgh. Lady Catherine's daughter."

"Will's cousin?! From what you've told me the De Bourghs are quite moral. I can't believe that Will's cousin would have an affair with my cousin, another woman's husband!"

"Well, Anne got dressed and left the house quite quickly, leaving me and Bill to argue in the spare bedroom."

"What was said?"

"Bill said that he had been in love with Anne for a long time but her mother would never really have approved of him so he settled for me. The affair started seven months ago when Anne called him to come and collect her after a night out with friends. Apparently one thing led to another and she fell in love with him."

"The dirty bastard!"

Charlotte let out an amused snigger before clearing her throat again.

"Whilst I agreed with him that you couldn't exactly pick and choose who you loved, I made a point of saying he asked me to be his wife and we were having a baby that I wasn't going to abort. He replied that he never wanted the baby and because he knew that I wouldn't have an abortion, he asked me to marry him in order to save his reputation."

Elizabeth couldn't believe her cousin's idiocy. Charlotte had always been an amazing girl and when the two of them had met at Longbourn all that time ago, Bill had seemed infatuated a lot more than Charlotte had ever been. Had it all been a lie?

"So, I took off my wedding ring and told him I wanted a divorce. I phoned my dad and he packed up all my belongings and the stuff I had bought for the baby and drove me back to Portsmouth. Maria said that I could stay with her for a while until I get a job and save up enough for my own place. As far as contact with my husband, I think the only time that I will hear from him is about the divorce."

"But what about the baby?"

Charlotte shrugged, "I'll tell him if there are any complications and I'll tell him when the baby is born but it's up to him whether he wants to be a father. I certainly wouldn't stop him if he wanted to be a father but if he doesn't want to be then I'm not bothered. I can give my baby enough love and care that they wouldn't be missing out on anything."

"Oh Charlotte, I'm sorry that I didn't realise what was going on." Elizabeth apologised.

"Lizzy, don't apologise. Like I said, you've had a lot going on with Lydia. Speaking of, has she made a decision about her baby?" Charlotte said.

"She's decided to keep the baby but my dad is coming down hard on her. He's not going to take any crap from Lydia or Kitty any more."

"Is she okay?"

Lizzy shrugged, "I think she's still coming to terms with what her stupidity nearly did and the horror and hurt she put us all through. If anything I think it's been a wake up call for her."

"I suppose the whole experience may have done her some good then. Well, I suppose we can only hope." Charlotte mused.

"We certainly can. I just hope that she steps up and takes responsibility when the baby comes. Although, I'm dreading the trial."

"Well, don't worry about that now. It's still a while away until Wickham will face a judge and jury."

Elizabeth gave her best friend a small smile, "You're right. In the mean time, I have a way that I could help you get yourself sorted." she replied.

Charlotte frowned, "How exactly?"

"I'm handing my two week notice into Paige on Monday which means that Fagin's will be looking for my replacement."

"Why are you leaving? I thought you loved it there."

"I do, I'll always be grateful to Charles for giving me the chance there. But I have this amazing job as a support worker and working the two night shifts at Fagin's on top of five mornings at Mary Rose, it's tiring me out. So I thought about it and I've decided that it's time to move on."

Charlotte smiled, "Are you sure it's time to move on? What if you miss it like crazy and want your old job back?"

Elizabeth took a breath and nodded.

"I'm sure. I will miss it like crazy because it's been an amazing three years there but nothing lasts forever. Besides, the timing is right. Everything else in my life is moving forward-"

"And by that, you mean with William?" Charlotte asked, eyebrows raised.

Lizzy blushed slightly, "We're doing really well." she muttered.

"That's not what you meant. Spill it."

"Before you showed up, he asked me to stay the entire weekend round his house and we've agreed that we want a lot with each other."

Charlotte smiled, "By new year I guarantee that you'll be moving in with him."

"You think?"

Her best friend nodded, "Come on, it's obvious how you two feel about each other. You're twenty-two next month, I'll be surprised if he doesn't ask you to move in with him then." Charlotte replied.

Lizzy got lost deep in thought about her future with her boyfriend, her life for the first time since her accident made sense and she was truly happy. In such a short time with William Darcy, she had overcome her fear of cars and car accidents, she had opened up to him completely and learned what it was really like to be in love. Of course, there were still a lot of things in the near future that could prove difficult such as Wickham's trial and Lydia having her baby but she knew that William would be there to support her through those times just as much as she would be there to support him through the trial of his nemesis.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N:** Apologies for the shortness and delay of this chapter, I've been swamped with work and visiting family over New Year that I haven't had much time to write this chapter. I've also had a little bit of writer's block, despite having a general outline of each chapter that's due to be written for this story. But I hope you enjoy this one.

I'm hoping to alternate this story with Autumn Changes so each story will be updated every fortnight unless there's a reason for it otherwise.

Please Review.

* * *

The end of October saw Elizabeth work her last ever shift at Fagin's and Charlotte start the job in her place; both happy with how their lives were going. Charlotte was doing well, having started divorce proceedings against Bill and had settled in with Maria in her sister's spare room whilst she saved up enough to get her own place.

After taking Leonard trick or treating on Halloween, dressed in an adult witch costume and William in an adult vampire costume whilst Leonard had decided to go as a ghost, Lizzy welcomed November with a smile. For the first time since her accident, she was looking forward to spending her birthday with a man she loved more than anything. But it was only the beginning of the month and she still had two and half weeks until then.

On the fifth of November, the three of them found themselves getting on the train at Fratton train station to Cosham, dressed in hats and scarves and gloves to protect them from the early winter chill. Paige had told Lizzy about the yearly fifth of November bonfire and fireworks display at the IBM headquarters and the bonfire and fair on King George V playing fields and so Lizzy had managed to persuade her boyfriend that they should take Leonard.

"Have you ever been to bonfire night Lizzy?" Leonard asked.

"When I was your age, my Dad used to take me to the one where we lived. But we didn't have a fair."

"Can I go on some rides, Uncle Will?" Leonard asked, eagerly.

William smiled and ruffled his nephew's hair, "We'll see." he replied.

Sometimes it felt like she was dreaming. Sometimes it felt weird that this was her life now, working in a job she loved, in a loving relationship and spending time with her boyfriend and the nephew he cared for. Sometimes it felt that, as she watched William and Leonard together, she wondered what it would be like if they had a child because it was in moments like these that she forgot that Leonard wasn't William's son.

The train stopped at Cosham and the three of them got off the train, walking through the high street and crossed the main road until they were at the large playing fields where they could see a thick cloud of smoke trailing off into the night's sky. The field was already crowded; most people and families were by the fences that surrounded the bonfire. Lizzy pointed out the bonfire to Leonard, stating that they probably wouldn't be able to get really close to it. But Leonard wasn't really bothered with the bonfire, he was more excited about the firework display and the fair.

They found that the fair wasn't as busy as they had expected it to be so William allowed Leonard to go on a few rides that the council had provided for entertainment, whilst Lizzy went to the candyfloss stand and bought a bag for Leonard to have once he was finished on the Ferris wheel. As if on cue, the fireworks display had started, sending loud mixtures of colour and loud bangs into the sky as the crowds looked up to watch.

Lizzy smiled as she looked up, feeling William wrap his arms around her and placing his head next to hers.

"Do you think Leonard is watching?" William mused in her ear.

"Probably," Lizzy said a little loudly, "He's got a good view from where he is."

The fire continued to burn underneath the brightly lit sky, causing William to pull her tighter to him. She loved being held by him as they stood next to the Ferris wheel, she felt so relaxed and safe that she managed to forget all the drama that had been happening recently. Nothing else mattered.

It had only been five months into the relationship and she knew that everything could only get better the longer they were together.

But it was as she closed her eyes for a brief second that she definitely thought she had been daydreaming as she heard William's breath in her ear and four words she hadn't expected to hear for a long while.

"Move in with me."

Elizabeth turned around in his arms, eyes wide as she looked her boyfriend in the eye and saw the confirmation that she hadn't imagined him saying those four little words to her. William was deadly serious in his request and she could see that the fact that they had only been together for five months didn't bother him.

"You're serious...aren't you?" She quizzed, shouting over the bangs.

William nodded, leaning down to her ear once more, "I want nothing more than to share my home with you." he replied.

Lizzy felt stunned. She knew that he would want her to answer him but she couldn't hear herself think over the bangs of the fireworks and cheers of the crowds. But William didn't push her for an answer, he simply smiled and bent down to kiss her; pulling her into his arms and holding her as the night's sky continued to be lit up in mixtures of blues, greens, reds, yellows and oranges.

They didn't notice that the fireworks display had ended until Leonard came running up to them and tugged on Will's coat that they pulled apart from each other. Looking down at Leonard, Lizzy laughed at the look of disgust on his face that he had caught them kissing yet again.

"Can we go get some dinner?" Leo asked.

"Mrs Reynolds is cooking for us." Will replied.

Agreeing that it was time to head back to the station, the three of them left the field as many of the city's population moved from the bonfire to watch their children go on the fair. They had only been there for a short while but William had stated beforehand that it was in the middle of the week and had to get back for Leonard to get a decent night's sleep because he had school in the morning.

As they sat on the platform waiting for the next train to head back in the direction that they needed to go in, Lizzy looked at her boyfriend and smiled dreamily. Now that it was a little quieter, she had more of a chance to think over what William had said to her on the field. He wanted her to live with him and Leonard.

The thought of her waking up there every morning, eating breakfast with Leo and Will and Mrs R, coming home after a morning at Mary Rose with Jacob, eating dinner, watching movies or doing something with Leonard each evening before he went to bed; those were the things that she had sometimes pictured in her mind whenever she thought about her future with William. She just hadn't been expecting him to ask her just yet.

But, after everything that had happened over the last few months with Wickham, Lydia and Caroline Bingley, everything was starting to settle between them. They were both fully committed to each other and to Elizabeth, that was all that mattered right now.

"How long have you been thinking about us living together?" Lizzy asked him quietly.

"A while." William replied with a smile.

Elizabeth took hold of his hand and squeezed it lightly.

"What do Leonard and Mrs Reynolds think about it? Or haven't you spoken to them about the possibility of me moving in with you?"

"They're okay with it. Leonard loves you and Mrs Reynolds thinks that it would be nice to have another woman around the house. You know, at first I was a little hesitant about whether the timing would be right but she was the one who told me about her own experiences with her late husband and told me that timing didn't matter. If it felt right, it was right. And Lizzy," he said, squeezing her hand in return, "You are what's right for me. And for Leonard. I can't imagine my life without you now that you're in it."

As the train pulled into the station, the three of them stood up from the bench and boarded the train, finding a seat in a nearly empty compartment; with Leonard looking out of the window as they pulled away from Cosham train station. Will's words touched her enormously. Of course, she already knew how Will felt about her because she felt the same way about him but to hear how much she meant to Leonard and that Mrs Reynolds thought a lot about her positively was something else. It felt like acceptance, that they had accepted her as part of their family.

The train moved from the station, the darkness of the night blurring past the windows as they moved. Leonard was talking about his view of the fireworks and bonfire from the top of the Ferris wheel until they got off at Fratton and walked back to Will's house. A house that she might soon share with him.

Leonard rushed up the driveway when they finally reached the house, opening the front door and shutting it behind him; the entire walk from Fratton train station to Will's house he had stated just how hungry he was and was looking forward to seeing if Mrs Reynolds had dinner ready for them on their return. But as Will went to follow his nephew into the house, Lizzy placed her hand around his bicep and gently tugged him back to face her.

"What's wrong?" William asked.

Lizzy found herself giving him a light laugh.

"What's wrong? Nothing. But you tell me that you want me to move in with you and you haven't exactly pestered me into giving you an answer."

"Well I didn't want to come across as a nag and I figured that we should talk about it when Leonard is in bed. It is something serious after all."

"Well, what is there to talk about?" Lizzy asked.

William raised an eyebrow, "Whether you want to or not." He replied.

Smiling, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I want nothing more than to take that next step with you." She whispered.

With a wide smile, William bent his head down to hers and kissed her lightly before pulling away from her lips.

"You definitely sure it's what you want?" he asked.

"Yes! And I don't even care that we're moving so fast."

He kissed her again, more deeply this time.

"I love you, Elizabeth." He sighed happily against her lips.

But before she could say it back, the front door opened and Leonard stepped out on to the driveway.

"Uncle Will, stop kissing Lizzy and get in here! Mrs R says I can't eat without you two!" Leonard complained.

The two of them laughed and released each other, following Leonard back into the house and closing the front door behind them. As Lizzy followed her boyfriend through to the kitchen, she sighed happily; this was going to be her home and for the first time since her accident she knew that this was the relationship she wanted more than anything. Coming home to man who had always shown just how much he loved her.


	25. Chapter 25

As November turned into a much colder December, Elizabeth found herself wondering how quickly the past seven weeks had been. She had been living with Will, Leonard and Mrs Reynolds for seven weeks but it felt like much longer. Every morning she would wake up in Will's arms before heading downstairs for breakfast with Leonard.

Her job at Mary Rose with Jacob was going exceedingly well. For the first time since Jacob had left his old school, his behaviour and happiness were getting better; and he had met a potential foster family who were taking him out on the weekends to get to know each other better, he talked about the Smiths quite a lot during the week when he spent time with Lizzy.

They bought their first Christmas tree as a couple during the first week of December and decorated it over the first weekend with Leonard and Mrs Reynolds. They didn't place any presents underneath, they were going to be spending Christmas eve through to Boxing day at Longbourn with the Bennets and then the twenty-seventh to New Year at Pemberley with the Darcys. Seeing the house lit up in twinkling, colour lights and tinsel brought Elizabeth a little bit of cheer that after all the worry and grief that had happened over the summer, she could focus on being a little happier at Christmas.

Leonard broke up for the two-week school holidays on the nineteenth of December which meant that Lizzy was also off from work which Will was happy about. From the first day of the holiday up until the twenty-third of December, the three of them were preparing for their trip away for the rest of the holidays, making sure that they had plenty of footwear to take with them; Will had warned her that Pemberley tended to get deep snow around this time of the year.

When the day finally came for them to travel to Longbourn, Lizzy felt nervous about how things were going at her childhood home. Whenever she had called to chat to her father, Mr Bennet tended to be brief whenever she asked about how Lydia and Kitty were doing under his new rules. Mr Bennet would just say that things were 'fine' but Lydia was now nearly half way through her pregnancy and was starting to show the world what her actions over the summer had done.

Kitty would complain that her lack of social life meant her breakup with Denny and faced alienation from her friends because she couldn't just come and go as she pleased at home any more. But whenever Lydia spoke to her over the phone, her youngest sister would insist that everything was fine and there was nothing to worry about. But Lizzy did worry.

So on Christmas eve they arrived at Longbourn, with their bags being taken to the rooms they would be staying in. After the delighted squeals and hugs from Mrs Bennet, who was happy to have all her daughters back for Christmas, had settled down, Lizzy took Jane to one side in the gardens to have a private chat.

"Lydia and Dad insist that everything is fine but I can't help but wonder if they're putting on a pretence." Lizzy said.

Jane sighed heavily as they sat on one of the stone benches.

"Lizzy, you are right when you say that they're putting on a pretence. Lydia is having to take her lessons in seclusion because she was beaten up by a few of the girls in her year group. When the school phoned, we took her to the hospital and although the baby is fine, Lydia is struggling to accept that her actions have changed her school life. Her popularity has gone, her friends want nothing to do with her and everyone calls her a 'slut' or worse. Seclusion was the only option available to keep her and the baby safe. Last week, Dad had a visit from his lawyer about the upcoming trials. Mrs Younge was offered a plea deal if Lydia backed up what she had said, because the woman was willing to allow Lydia to return home before Wickham returned home, they offered her a four-year sentence but could be let out in two on good behaviour." Jane explained.

"So what happened with that?" Lizzy asked.

"Lydia backed everything up that Mrs Younge had written in her statement with the CPS. Dad wasn't happy about it; he thinks that a four-year sentence for kidnapping a child is a light sentence. He's also worried about how long Wickham will get for his charges, the lawyer thinks that he'll get six and he has to go on the sex offenders register for life. The lawyer also thinks that the pregnancy won't help the trial." Jane continued.

"I understand that Wickham is the father of the child but surely that won't factor in on the jury's decision?"

"The lawyer thinks it could. Despite the fact that Lydia was underage when she ran off with Wickham and the fact that he groomed her, Wickham's defence is going to try and make out that she knew what she doing. They're going to use her previous sexual knowledge to their advantage and paint Lydia as a rebellious wanton or something like that. There's a possibility that they're going to say that Lydia got herself pregnant on purpose and persuaded Wickham to start a new life with her."

"That's disgusting! Don't get me wrong, she was stupid for what she's done but she was a child and Wickham was an adult!"

Jane shrugged, "I'm angry about it too Lizzy, we all are. Lydia's been put on a counselling programme to help her deal with the situation and talk about what's happened."

"Did Dad tell Lydia what the lawyer told him?"

Jane nodded, "She knows everything and she's prepared to deal with what they throw at her. The trial is set for the second week of February with the verdict being delivered on the Friday afternoon depending on if the whole jury agree to the same verdict. Lydia is giving her evidence via a camera link so she doesn't have to face him." Her sister explained.

Lizzy sighed heavily, she couldn't understand why her father hadn't told her what the lawyer had said about Wickham's defence and now she worried that the stress would be too much for Lydia to handle. She knew that the whole pregnancy thing was a lot to adjust to, especially as her youngest sister was determined to keep and raise the baby on top of having to do GCSE's around the time she was due to give birth but if the defence were determined to paint Lydia as the instigator to Wickham's crime, Lizzy was worried about the toll it would have on her little sister.

"Is she going to cope with it?" Lizzy asked.

Jane shrugged again, "She seems to be struggling but that's to be expected with everything that's happened. Dad isn't making things any better for her or for Kitty at the moment and whilst I agree that he needs to be harsh and curb their wild behaviour, he also needs to remember that Kitty is eighteen soon and will be off to university where she'll be free to live her life how she wants and that Lydia is already being punished for her stupidity."

"How exactly does she see herself as being punished? It wasn't her fault that Wickham used her the way he did."

"Lizzy, she thinks that getting herself pregnant is her fault. Lydia believes that because of her stupidity by running off with Wickham and 'allowing' herself to get groomed by him the pregnancy is her punishment."

"But it's not a punishment. A baby is a wonderful thing." Lizzy argued.

"I agree with you but Lydia has mixed emotions about the baby. One part of her wants the baby to prove to herself and the family that she can change her selfish ways and be a good parent whereas another part of her feels like because having a child is a life commitment, she's giving herself a life sentence for her mistake." Jane sighed.

"Does she truly want to be a mum? Does she truly want the baby?"

"I think she does. Mum took her for her in depth scan last week and apparently she was quite fascinated when the sonographer showed her how the baby was developing."

Lizzy smiled, "I imagine it was quite an exciting time for her, did she find out the sex?" she asked.

Jane nodded, "She did, but she won't tell anyone what she's having."

Their conversation ended when they were called into the house for lunch. Mrs Bennet had made a shepherd's pie for everyone. As they all sat in the dining room, Lizzy observed Lydia as distantly as she could and saw that Lydia had changed a lot because of the ordeal she had been through. She remembered the times in the past when meal times were a time when Lydia would gossip about some girl or situation that had happened in Meryton or at school, how Lydia would whine about Mr Bennet not giving her enough pocket money but now she simply passed the gravy boat to those who wanted a top-up and occasionally replied to a question if one was asked to her directly but throughout the meal, she mostly remained silent.

Once lunch was finished with, Mrs Reynolds helped Mrs Bennet do the washing up whilst Mr Bennet, Charles, Will and Leonard went out into the gardens to have a kick about with Leonard's football. Mary was sat at the family piano practising, whilst Kitty went to be antisocial in her bedroom. Jane was busy making a start on her lesson plans for the new year when school started up again, leaving Lydia and Lizzy in the living room watching a Christmas movie on the TV.

"Lydi, can I talk to you for a second?" Lizzy asked.

Her youngest sister pressed the mute button on the TV remote before turning to face her.

"Sure. What's up Lizzy?"

"I just wanted to check in. You say that you're fine whenever I call the house but I had a little chat with Jane and she told me about what Dad's lawyer said regarding Wickham's trial and what happened at school." Lizzy replied.

Lydia exhaled heavily, "I knew that she'd tell you eventually. You two were always close."

"I'm concerned about you and so is Jane. I don't want you to feel like you have to suffer in silence and deal with everything by yourself."

"Lizzy, it's my fault that I got into this mess." Lydia muttered.

"You're a victim Lydia. Wickham got inside your head and made you feel like you could only rely on him. It's what he does, you're not the first girl he's done this to." Lizzy said softly.

"I know, I found out a little about his history with William's sister. Don't you think it's a bit weird how I'm having George's baby and your boyfriend's nephew is going to be my baby's half-brother?"

"Don't change the subject Lydi."

Lydia sighed, "Lizzy, I'll be fine. It's been hard, I knew it was going to be when I decided to keep the baby. Life at school has changed, I've accepted that. I've been bullied and gossiped about but maybe I deserve that. After all, how many times did I gossip and take the mick out of people because of school gossip? I'm only getting a taste of my own medicine. The seclusion is hard but it's to keep me and the baby safe so I've dealt with it. As for the trial, I'm shitting myself when I have to go to court and give evidence and then have to deal with George's defence trying to paint the situation to make him look better, I know what they'll probably try and do."

"It seems like you know what you're in for then."

Lydia nodded, "Honestly, I'm trying to better myself. The lawyer gave it to me straight that it's not going to be pretty but at least I don't have to stand in front of him, I'll be in a different room via a live feed camera. I'm trying to change and not just for me, I'm having this baby and I want to prove that I can be a person that doesn't think of her own selfish desires and actions."

"I think you've learned your lesson, just don't be too hard on yourself. The parenting thing, yeah it's going to be hard but I want you to know that we'll support you." Lizzy said.

"I know. Dad and Mum are going to ensure I can go to sixth form because Dad doesn't want me to waste my life doing nothing, he wants me to do my A-Levels like the rest of you have but weekends sneaking out and partying are over. The weekends, I'll be spending with my baby, as well as the majority of nappy changes and night time feeds. Dad isn't making this easy for me and I can't say that I blame him, I put him through hell. I put all of you through hell." Lydia replied.

"I'll take your word for it that you're going to be okay but I want you to promise me that if you ever need to talk to someone, you can talk to me about it. I want to be there for you Lydia."

Lydia chuckled slightly, "I don't understand how you can be so nice to me after everything I've done. I ran off with your ex-boyfriend, the man who nearly killed you. I don't deserve anything nice from you."

"You're my sister, that's all that matters."

There was a brief moment of silence before Lydia pulled out her recent scan photograph to show to her. Lizzy smiled as she looked down at the little baby in the photograph, the black and white making it only capable of showing the head, the spine and the feet.

"It's a boy." Lydia whispered.

Lizzy looked at her, "A boy?"

Lydia nodded, "A boy."

The two sisters shared a hug before crying tears of joy.

"Oh Lydi, Mum will freak when she finds out. She only knows how to deal with girls." Lizzy laughed.

Lydia laughed too, "She was a bit annoyed when I told the sonographer that I wanted to be the only person to know the baby's sex. It'll be a nice change. Dad says that cousin Bill is having a girl?"

Lizzy nodded, "Well Bill doesn't want the baby but Charlotte is very happy with the fact it's a girl."

"When's Charlotte due?"

"The end of April, a few weeks before you are."

Lydia smiled, "Thanks Lizzy, for being supportive despite the fact I've always been a cow."

"Like I said, you're my sister and I'll always be there." Lizzy replied.

Lydia smiled as she turned the volume on the TV back up and the two resumed watching the film in silence. Now that Lizzy had been told and had spoken to Lydia about the current situation, she felt slightly better. Now all she could hope for was that Wickham would be found guilty and have another sentence added on to his current eight for the manslaughter of William's sister, that way he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else ever again.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N:** Thank you to those of you who reviewed the last chapter, not many more left now :(

This chapter takes place two months after the last one, written in Will's POV and the one to come after this will take place three months later. Sadly, the next chapter will be the last one written with an epilogue to come shortly after the last chapter.

* * *

Will sat in the living room, trying to focus on the TV show that he had been trying to watch since it had started half an hour ago but was finding it impossible. All week it had been him watching Elizabeth be on edge and he was worried about her. He knew why she was feeling uneasy, it was the week of Wickham's trial and his girlfriend was worried about the scumbag getting found guilty and the toll of the pressure and stress it would have on Lydia.

He was worried about Elizabeth, she hadn't slept properly for nearly two weeks because she had been stressed over how the trial was going to turn out and whether or not she should go to the court to provide support for Lydia and her family. But he had told her that Jane had taken the week off from work to go down there with Lydia and Mr Bennet and that they knew Jane would keep them informed each day with how the trial turned out.

It wasn't the only thing that was on their minds, Elizabeth only had a few months left of her yearly contract as Jacob's support worker so was already looking at lining up a new support worker job for September but so far, had no luck in getting any interviews. The only thing that seemed to be good in his house at the moment was the fact that Leonard was looking forward to having a half-brother once Lydia had given birth to her baby boy.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the small velvet box that he had been carrying around since the New Year. After spending a few days for Christmas at Longbourn with the Bennets, they had travelled up to Pemberley to spend the New Year with his family and once his family had gotten to know Elizabeth properly, his father had taken him to one side on New Year's Eve whilst Frank, Elizabeth, Leonard and Georgiana had gone out into the grounds with the plastic sledges to go down the snow covered hills on the estate.

 _"Fitzwilliam," his father had said, "I have a suspicion that your relationship with Elizabeth may be getting quite serious?"_

 _"Dad, we already live together. The relationship is already serious."_

 _Reginald had nodded, smiling as he did so._

 _"I thought as much. May I ask if you intend to propose to her? Have children with her?"_

 _"I have thought about proposing but I want to wait until the right time." William had replied._

 _He watched as his father handed over a tiny, black, velvet box. As his father gestured for him to open it, he felt his eyes go wide as he looked from the ring sat in the centre of the box to his father._

 _"It was your mother's engagement ring, a Darcy family heirloom that my grandfather gave to my grandmother. I suppose you could say that it's been a tradition to pass it down through the generations. Elizabeth is a lovely woman, despite what she has suffered in her life and what happened with the Caroline business in the summer, and your mother would have approved. Your mother would have agreed with me when I say that I want you to give this to Elizabeth, when you decide the time is right to take that step."_

It had been playing on his mind ever since they returned to Portsmouth, when should he propose to her? Ever since September he had been imagining how their lives would be together and he knew that he wanted her to be his wife, to have their children whilst raising Leonard together, he knew that his future was with her but he only intended to propose once and he wanted it to be special and memorable.

"Fitzwilliam, if you keep looking at that ring it's only going to make you over think." Mrs Reynolds said loudly.

He snapped out of his thoughts and turned to face his housekeeper, giving her a tired smile before placing the box back into his pocket.

"It's been a long week." William sighed, rubbing his temple.

Mrs Reynolds smiled sympathetically, taking a seat next to him on the sofa.

"I know it has. We finally have justice for Lucy but now we want to get justice for Elizabeth and her family, in a few hours we'll hopefully have the decision of the jury and we can put this all behind us." Mrs Reynolds assured him.

"Elizabeth hasn't slept properly in weeks. She tosses and turns in the night and mutters about Wickham."

"I imagine that it's a hard time for her. She firstly suffered at Wickham's hands and justice wasn't served properly and now he's hurt and impregnated her sister, it must be tough."

"There's no way that he would be set free from the charges regarding Lydia. He's a predator on young girls." William pointed out.

Mrs Reynolds nodded in agreement.

"Whether or not he'll be found guilty of these charges with Lydia, he won't be setting foot out of prison for the remainder of his manslaughter charge and he's hardly the type to keep himself out of trouble, chances are his sentence could get extended if he found himself in trouble on the inside."

Before their conversation could continue, the front door opened.

"Will?" Elizabeth called from the hallway.

Smiling his thanks at Mrs Reynolds for the chat, he rose from the sofa and went out into the hallway to greet Elizabeth and kissed her cheek.

"Hello love, how was work?" he asked.

"Fine. Sorry I'm back late, I popped into Fagin's to check in with Paige, Mary and Charlotte." Elizabeth apologised.

"Don't apologise, it's fine." Will smiled.

The two moved into the living room and sat down, having the room to themselves.

"Jane called. The trial's over." Elizabeth said quietly.

"Have they come up with a verdict yet?" Will asked.

"Well, when I say 'over' I meant that the prosecution and defence have concluded with their closing speeches to the jury and that the jury have retired. Jane said that they expect a decision to be reached soon." Elizabeth replied.

"How's Lydia?"

"She's okay, she only had to give evidence over two days, once for the prosecution and then she was questioned by his defence. My father's lawyer was right when they said that they would try to paint Lydia as the instigator behind the whole thing but the prosecution brought up how Wickham was responsible for your sister's death at a young age because they had been involved when Lucy was around Lydia's age and the fact that Wickham already fathered a child he hasn't assumed responsibility for. I was also mentioned in a brief outline of Wickham's true character, which my dad's lawyer seems to think helped in showing the jury that Wickham had a liking for young, naive girls." Elizabeth explained.

Will nodded his understanding, pulling her close to him to hold her in his arms.

"Whatever happens, you will always have me." he whispered.

She looked up at him and smiled, "I know, thank you." Elizabeth replied.

Before he could say any more, his girlfriend's phone began to ring. Sharing a brief look, Lizzy moved to answer the call from Jane and went out of the room as William waited nervously. Now was the moment of truth. Now was the moment that he hoped would be the news that they had been waiting months for.

When Elizabeth came back into the room, she was holding the phone and looking rather neutral; as if she was trying to process the news she had obviously just received from Jane.

"Lizzy?"

She looked at him and for a few seconds stayed neutral.

And then..she smiled in relief.

"Will...it's over!" she announced happily, "The jury found Wickham guilty and he's been sentenced to seven years in prison to run on top of the sentence he received for manslaughter!"

Returning his girlfriend's smile, he hugged her tightly.

Finally, justice had been made and Wickham had gotten what he truly deserved and he could never hurt them, or anyone ever again.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N:** Thank you to those of you who have followed, favourited, reviewed this story since the beginning. Sadly, this story is nearing the end with an epilogue to follow this chapter within the next few days. This story has been a joy to write and it was my first P&P multi chapter fic. I have a few other ideas for modern stories involving our favourite couple in the future, but in the mean time I will be focussing on Autumn Changes. Once I have posted the Epilogue, the story will be marked as complete.

* * *

In the three months since Wickham was found guilty of his crimes against Lydia, life seemed to settle down quite nicely for the Bennet and Darcy families. Elizabeth and Will settled into a nice routine, taking and picking Leonard to and up from school, spending time as a family of three on the weekends taking Leonard to theme parks, visiting Fort Nelson on Portsdown Hill, taking him to view the Mary Rose museum and The Victory in the Historic Dockyard. They also celebrated Mary and Kitty's birthdays in March.

It was during the middle of the night during the third week in April that Elizabeth was woken during the night. A phone call from Charlotte. After having gone five days past her due date, Charlotte had finally gone into labour and with Elizabeth and Maria at her side, she had given birth to a baby girl who weighed eight pounds and seven ounces.

Lydia had gone into labour earlier than her due date but experienced difficulty. The baby that she was carrying was in the breech position and wouldn't turn. Elizabeth, having not been able to get the time off of work, had kept in touch with Jane throughout the labour. In the end, after three days of her labour not progressing quickly enough, Lydia agreed and signed the papers for an emergency c-section and her little boy was born weighing seven pounds exactly, a little born she named Thomas after their father.

Jacob had been settled into a foster family that Elaine had told Elizabeth about months before and was now in the process of being adopted, the little boy she had worked with for so long was now settled and happy.

But it was one night at the start of May when Will stood at the bottom of the staircase impatiently. Mrs Reynolds had agreed to watch Leonard for the night so that he could surprise Elizabeth to a meal out. So far, she had been changing into so many outfits, he was beginning to feel annoyed that women took so long to make a choice.

"Lizzy, hurry up love." Will called.

She appeared at the top of the stairs, wearing an unamused look on her face.

"Well you won't tell me where we're going for dinner. Are we eating at a casual, family style restaurant? Are we eating somewhere more formally? I don't want to get too dressy for a casual restaurant and I don't want to be dressed down if you're plans include somewhere where you read the menu in French." Elizabeth groaned.

Will grinned, "Wear whatever you want, like a nice summer dress but with a cardigan so you don't get cold." he suggested.

Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth went back into their bedroom and looked at the various dresses she had strewn across the bed. Biting her lip as her eyes scanned through the different dresses, she finally chose a navy blue sun dress with spaghetti straps and matched it with a black cardigan and black flats before she grabbed a small bag which contained her purse, keys and mobile phone and headed downstairs. She had left her hair in their natural state of loose waves to cascade around her face and shoulders, Will did like it when she wore her hair down.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was briefly kissed by Will and then turned around. Before she could turn her head and look at him in confusion, she saw a blindfold being tied around her eyes.

"Will-"

"It's a surprise." he whispered.

She felt his lips softly press against her neck before she was led out of the door, shouting their goodbyes to Mrs Reynolds on the way out. Will carefully helped her into his car, buckling her seatbelt before getting into his own seat and starting the engine.

The whole way to wherever they were going, Will was silent. He had turned on the radio and every time Elizabeth asked him where they were going he would simply laugh and tell her it was a surprise. Elizabeth gave up quizzing him in the end, simply sitting as still as she could with her blindfold blocking her view.

The car engine was switched off when they had reached their destination. She heard her boyfriend get out of the door causing her to undo her seatbelt and be helped out of the car.

"Am I allowed to see where we are now?" Elizabeth asked.

The blindfold was removed and she looked out over the city's skyline from the top of the Portsdown Hill viewpoint and smiled. They hadn't been back here since their first date nearly a year ago. Will stepped in front of her, smiling widely.

"Happy Anniversary love."

She frowned, "But it's not our anniversary for another month." Elizabeth pointed out.

"Well not the anniversary of the day we had our first date. One year ago today was the first time I met you." Will replied.

Elizabeth's thoughts went back to that day and she laughed.

"I never did charge you for those lessons on good manners." Elizabeth teased.

He cupped her face and looked deeply into her eyes.

"I think I won you over soon enough that I didn't need them." he said softly.

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, leaning forward to press her lips against his.

"So, we're reliving our first date then, Fitzwilliam?"

Will rolled his eyes, "Sometimes I wish that Mrs R had never told you my first name."

The two bought themselves a burger from the Mick's Monster Burgers and sat down on the grass and Elizabeth noted how quiet it was tonight, usually the viewpoint was filled with other cars and motorbikes but aside from another couple walking their dog and two teenagers snogging heavily in the distance, they were alone.

"It's quite peaceful tonight." Elizabeth commented.

Will smiled as he got up, jogging over to the bin to put their rubbish away before jogging back and pulling her to her feet. The sun was beginning to set now, the sky turning into a mixture of reds and oranges. He turned her to face towards Portchester caste and whispered for her to watch, counting down from five until she saw what was happening.

From the castle, jets of colour were shooting into the sky before letting off a loud bang. Different whirls of colours as Elizabeth looked up at the sky in surprise. Fireworks at this time of year was unheard of but it was a nice surprise as she continued to look at the different shades of red, blue, green, orange and yellow that filled the sunset sky.

For a brief moment she looked down and her eyes widened. Will had moved to kneel in front of her, smiling widely and holding a small velvet box in his hand.

"Will..." she breathed.

He continued to smile, opening the box to present her with the contents. Inside, sat in the centre of the box, was a shimmering blue sapphire set in the centre, surrounded by small diamonds that covered the band. Her hand went to her mouth in shock, was this really what she thought was happening?

"Elizabeth Bennet, I love you. I love you more than words can express and I want the rest of my life to spent with you. Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" William asked her.

She looked from the ring to her boyfriend's gaze. For a few seconds she thought her heart was going to burst free from her chest in happiness. Taking a deep breath, she finally gathered the courage to give him her answer.

"Yes!" she squealed, "Yes, Will, I love you. Yes! I will marry you!"

Smiling from ear to ear, Will slowly pulled the ring from its box and placed it on her finger. Elizabeth looked down at her left hand before stepping towards her boyfriend and kissing him passionately. Will wrapped his arms around her, lifting her from her feet. This was the happiest day of both their lives and both knew that they would spend the rest of their lives together being just as happy.


	28. Epilogue

**Four and a half years later**

Two years after being sentenced to a plea deal in prison, Natalia Younge was released on good behaviour. She had returned to Ramsgate to live but left two months after her release from prison due to being harassed and publicly abused and shouted at for her role in Lydia Bennet's kidnapping. She moved to France, managing to get a job as a cleaner in a restaurant in Calais whilst renting a one bedroom house. She lived a relatively quiet life, keeping to herself until one day six months after moving to France, she was found by a neighbour to have committed suicide.

Her foster son, George Wickham Younge, after serving nearly three years in prison for his crimes against Lydia Bennet and Lucy Fitzwilliam, was killed by three of his inmates. After illegally setting up a gambling ring in the prison he resided in, he ended up owing a lot of money to the wrong people. Investigations into his death found that the three inmates, who were already serving time for Actual Bodily Harm, Theft and murder, had cornered Wickham behind the binshed and had savagely beaten him. Wickham was found by two guards on duty and taken to hospital, where he died on the operating table whilst surgeons tried to save his life. Wickham left behind two children who would never know him, they would only know the misery he had caused and be happy that they had a lucky escape of having him for a father.

His conspirator, Caroline Bingley, had been forced from Netherfield shortly after her brother discovered her schemes to be Fitzwilliam Darcy's girlfriend. With the help of her sister, Louisa Hurst, she bought a little flat in the London suburbs and invested her inheritance on the stock exchange. After investing wrongly, she was nearly made bankrupt and had no choice but to sell the jewellery that her mother had left her in order to live. She eventually found a rich widower who owned a chain of restaurants and hotels across the country, making her husband as miserable as she was.

After serving another tour in Afghanistan, Patrick Forster was forced to retire from the army after his unit had been hit by an undetected roadside bomb. He lost his right leg and right hand. He became a stay at home dad for his son Harry and he and wife Paige had a daughter, Imogen, a year after his retirement. Paige continued to run the Portsmouth branch of Fagin's as store manager.

Charlotte Lucas divorced her husband and took back her maiden name and after a lengthy battle, her ex-husband was forced to pay child support for their daughter Molly Collins. Charlotte continued to work part time at Fagin's until Molly turned four and could attend pre-school full time when she got her first job since gaining her law degree; becoming a junior lecturer at Portsmouth University in the subject of law. Bill Collins, after being reported by Catherine de Bourgh, lost his job as a vicar and was forced to move out of his little vicarage where his marriage had broken down. Anne de Bourgh fell out with her mother over this and moved with Bill. A year later, they were married and living in Brighton on Anne's inheritance money and had a son, Oliver. Bill never saw his daughter by Charlotte.

Lydia Bennet had turned nineteen and was doing a part-time university distance course from home whilst she cared and looked after her four year old son Tommy. Having learned her lesson for what she had done with Wickham, she got a part-time job working as a waitress and bartender at a local restaurant to support herself and her son. Tommy spent the weekends with his Aunt and Uncle, forging a close bond with his half-brother.

Jane and Charles were married and had one son, a little boy called Joseph. The three lived happily at Netherfield and stayed local to Longbourn and Meryton where Jane continued to teach and Charles managed his Fagin's franchise which had spread across from Portsmouth to all over the south east of England.

Frank settled into the estate with a girl he had been dating for three years named Lauren. They had met at the local cadets where Frank worked teaching teenagers about military life. They got engaged a year and a half after meeting whilst Georgiana remained at her boarding school for her sixth form years and got accepted into Cambridge University at the age of eighteen, continuing the Darcy family tradition.

Will and Elizabeth were married six months after their engagement and spent another year in Portsmouth before moving back to Pemberley permanently. Reginald Darcy had suffered a mild stroke so the couple moved to take over the estate. For Christmas that year, Will gifted Lizzy a plot of land in Lambton, a building which she turned into a pre-school for children suffering with special needs as well as children who didn't. Elizabeth spent more time gaining qualifications to become an Educational Psychologist and employed people who had gained a lot of experience and qualifications working with special needs children to work in her pre-school. Her business gave support to the local villages surrounding Pemberley for those families who had children suffering with autism and other conditions, they didn't have far to travel any more once the Darcy pre-school was up and running.

Six months after returning to Pemberley, Elizabeth gave birth to her and William's first child, a boy they named Benjamin William Darcy. Mrs Bennet, who had only ever had experience in raising girls was overwhelmed at having three biological grandsons that as Tommy, Joseph and Benjamin grew and became more independent and boisterous, the more she suffered from the hysterics. It was a few weeks after Elizabeth had given birth that she and William made the decision to adopt Leonard as their own. Whilst their nephew was excited to have 'proper parents' for the first time since his mother's death, Leonard insisted that he still call them 'Uncle Will' and 'Aunt Lizzy' because he didn't want to upset his own mother's memory.

But it was exactly five years to the day that they had met, and four since William had proposed to her, that Elizabeth found herself at the local hospital giving birth for the second time. Will held her hand and soothed her through her pain as each contraction that hit her.

"It's okay love, you're doing brilliantly." William whispered.

Elizabeth fell back onto her pillows, the tiredness trying to take over.

"I don't see you trying to push twins out of your body!" she grumbled.

William chuckled lightly, "It's almost time."

The midwives came shortly after, telling her to push as hard as she could. Elizabeth followed their instructions, the pain a lot greater than when she had given birth to one baby. She pushed and screamed, feeling the sweat fall down her face and squeezed her husband's hand as hard as she could until she heard the newborn cry of her second baby.

The baby was cleaned up and William cut the baby's umbilical cord before being handed to a second midwife to be weighed. Elizabeth glanced over at the scales where her baby lay screaming, smiling as she instantly fell in love with the infant.

"Do you have a name for your first daughter, Mrs Darcy?" the second midwife asked.

She looked at Will, they had only discussed potential names before they had decided on honouring family members.

"Annie Elizabeth Darcy." William said to the midwife, naming their first daughter after William's mother Anne.

Elizabeth felt the contractions start again and she leaned forward, beginning to push again, continuing to do what she had just done until she heard another newborn baby cry out. William repeated the cutting of the cord before their last baby was handed over to the midwife to be cleaned and weighed.

"Do you have a name for your second daughter, Mrs Darcy?"

"Lucy," Elizabeth replied weakly, "Lucy Jane Darcy."

Once both babies were cleaned and handed to their mother, Elizabeth was wheeled back round to the ward to recover, only to see two cheeky boys sat with her father waiting for her.

"Congratulations Lizzy, how are my granddaughters?" Mr Bennet asked.

Lizzy smiled weakly, "They're perfect, just like their brothers." she replied.

Leonard and Benjamin moved to peak over the babies's heads, both smiling down at the little girls.

"You know something, Uncle Will," Leonard began, "Five years ago we were all sad but now I have a family, a proper family. I have two brothers and two sisters."

William smiled down at his nephew, ruffling the nearly eleven-year-old's blonde hair. His nephew had a point. Five years ago, he had moved from Pemberley to start afresh, to try and gain some happiness back in his life which he thought would be impossible. But he had found it. He had everything that he thought he would never find, he had gotten justice for the sister he had lost before her time, he had raised a nephew as his own son and had met the woman he loved more than anything; and in turn had married the love of his life and gained three more children with her. They were a family and nothing could take that away.

Sometimes, things never are what they seem. That was a lesson everyone had learned but together, they were stronger united than they were apart.

 **The End**


End file.
